


Wyrm Wrecking Worm

by Ravenwood240



Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Genre: AU, Did I say AU and OP?, Gen, Overpowered Taylor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:21:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 74,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24707512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravenwood240/pseuds/Ravenwood240
Summary: In all the dimensions of Worm, many things have happened to Taylor.  In this one, A being has been tracking the Entities for ten thousand years.  Now, she has caught them and it is time for them to Die,  Allikki has Sworn it.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 37





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Right. This is an overpowered Taylor story that will be AU starting ten thousand years before Canon Worm begins. For the most part, Earth Bet is the same, except that some of the sillier bits of Contessa can do everything at once are ignored. Those changes should be obvious. Brockton Bay is in New Hampshire for this story, because A. the laws are better there and B. it was the only bit of coast with a bay big enough to hold a city of 350k people that didn't already have a city in it.
> 
> Note: There will be a few fights, but the conflict in this story is not physical, but social. If you're looking for rock 'em sock 'em parahumans, you need to look elsewhere. That said, on with the show.

Worm Wrecking Wyrm

Warning: This is a short story, a straight-up power wank. Taylor will be the center character, Canon rails will be somewhere over in that general direction, and for the people of Earth Bet, the WTF factor has only just begun.

Allikki is a Dragon, born on a world that died uncountable ages before Earth Bet's first multi-celled life was spawned in the oceans. A bard, a wanderer, a student. She has seen the beginnings of planets and the end of worlds, existed and loved for more eons than anything human can imagine, lived more millennium than the oldest human has seconds in their life. Ten thousand years ago, she found a whole series of worlds, destroyed before their time, with every form of life on them. She began tracking the creatures responsible and finally, she has found them. One is already dead, but the other has started the cycle that will lead to the destruction of more planets. With a thought and a gesture, she starts the destruction of the planet the body of the creature lays on. She will kill many when the planet is erased, but better that than the other one raising it somehow.

It is time to end this cycle. Earth Bet, in the terms of the natives, will be the end of these beings.  
Allikki has Sworn it.

Prologue

Allikki started the preparations to destroy the planar barrier isolating the worlds the creatures had chosen to seed with their bits. It would be a minor bit of work, the piercing of the barrier and she flexed her will only to stop as a Presence appeared near her head. In size and shape, it was roughly human, but the sheer power rolling off of it belied that impression.

“I would speak with you, ere you do this thing.” Even as the Being spoke, it created a planet under their feet, her power pushing out and creating an entire solar system in seconds.

Allikki settled on the planet, shifting with a thought to a human shape. She didn't know who this Being was, but she did know power, and it would have taken her at least five or six hundred years to have created a single planet, let alone an entire solar system. Whatever this creature was, she'd listen to it.

“What you plan to do, is a good thing and I thank you for the efforts you would have made for the people of these worlds.” The Being looked at her. “But there are things you do not know, things happening here that you cannot know. Give me time to explain, and then we will turn our minds to see what you can do.”

Allikki had not lived this long to rush into anything. She made two chairs a table and refreshments with a wave of her hand. “Please, sit and tell me of the worlds I would save. Any knowledge would be good to know.”

They sat and for a minute there was silence before the Being began speaking. “You have wandered uncounted worlds, so I will not have to explain that parts of every plane of existence are different, that different rules may apply. Earth Bet is a Balance, the fulcrum for more than a million planets across a million or more dimensions. If you had tried this on some of the other Earths that fall under this balance, it would not be a problem. This earth, however, cannot bear the weight of a being such as you or I directly. If you do this thing, it must be done with an Avatar, using one of the sentient beings native to the planet.”

Allikki considered what the Being was saying. She had run into planets like this before and had usually passed them by, not wanting to disrupt them any more than she had to. She knew how to make an Avatar of course, and had used them in the past. She listened as the Being explained exactly why she couldn't enter herself and agreed. Oh, her presence wouldn't instantly destroy the planet or anything like that, but within three thousand years or so, the natives would notice the problems and within four or five thousand years, the planet would be completely uninhabitable and destroyed completely in ten thousand. Had it just been the one planet, Allikki would have counted it a bargain to stop the creature, but Earth Bet being a Balance meant that the effects would be echoed across millions of planets, disrupting them in ways no being less than a Greater Deity could predict.

“I would have to gift my Avatar with enough power to destroy the creature. Are the natives here able to deal with that kind of power without going mad? I know nothing of this branch of humans.”

“They are like most humans, capable of great virtue and villainy, sometimes at the same time. I trust that you can find a being that you can work with, one that you can trust not to destroy the world.” The Being radiated amusement. “You are no longer that youngling. You have come far and judged many people since then.”

Allikki closed her eyes as she saw again her first Avatar. She had chosen a Good person, long ago and far away, not understanding then that too much good could be as bad as evil. The end results had required the help of three Celestial Beings and a thousand years to straighten out. Allikki pushed that fiasco to the back of her mind while she considered her current dilemma. She would need somebody strong of will, willing to do the right thing, but intelligent enough to understand that the right thing was not always the legal thing, and may need some death to accomplish.

The two of them spoke for a time, discussing the problem before Allikki. Finally, the Being stood up. “It is time for you to go to work. The creature has been on Earth Bet now for a few years, and things will only get worse from here if you do not start soon.”

Allikki stood up and looked at the Being. “If I may ask, why aren't you doing anything about this? You have the power, and some concern for this set of realities.”

The Being radiated amusement again. It disappeared, leaving behind one last thought. “I am. Ten thousand years ago, I helped a Noble Soul find the trail of destruction these creatures leave behind.”

Allikki sent her astral form to search the planet for the being she needed. It was 2005 in the way of these beings to measure time. She eliminated millions of people in the first three years, narrowing her search, getting faster as she learned more about the world and its people. By early 2010, she had narrowed her search to 30 possibilities spread across the world. She concentrated on them, watched how they dealt with life. Two were eliminated by dying, one turned to drugs to deal with personal issues. By January 2011, she had narrowed her field to three and had almost decided on a man in Australia when her third choice began radiating such an emotional disturbance that she had to look again.

Allikki saw her situation, saw that she would be possessed by a bit of the creature. For a long second, she hesitated, but in the end, her compassion sent her to the girl in the locker. She already knew that when her Avatar killed the creature most Parahumans would die, and the rest would die as she destroyed the bits of creature scattered about. She had spent enough time watching this girl that the thought of having to destroy her was not an option.

She had her plans ready, requiring the merest flex of her power to trigger several actions at once. The planet the body of the first creature was on was destroyed in the blink of an eye, with all the pieces pushed into the sun it orbited. She made sure no bits escaped, even as she did the same to the planet the bit that was trying to join with her chosen Avatar lay on. She had already prepared the working that her Avatar would get. The working would take three days of this planet to settle into her Avatar and work the changes that would be needed for her Avatar to handle the power she would have.

After that, she would be able to guide her, talk to her. It would take a year or so for Taylor to learn how to use the power she would have without blowing things up or bringing inanimate objects to life, but then, the creature's days would end.  
*On Earth in a certain locker.*

Taylor was caught between despair and fury as she beat on the door of the locker. Between one second and the next, she felt something, something that touched her, body, mind and soul. She was barely aware of the locker exploding outward as she passed out.


	2. Secret Identity?  What secret Identity?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AN: Not a lot of action in this chapter, since the orb holding Taylor will take three days to finish working Taylor over and the rest of the world isn’t going to take a time out while it works. Never fear, the next chapter will start the action. In the meantime, let’s take a look at what the rest of the players on this stage are doing, shall we?

Chapter One  
Secret Identity? What secret identity?

Danny didn't get a ticket on his way to Winslow, but that was only because every cop in the city was already in the parking lot. He put most of his truck in a parking space, not really worried about lines right now. He jumped out an started toward the building. Before he got halfway across the lot, two police officers intercepted him. “Sir, all of the children and faculty have been taken to the fields behind the school. You can meet your family there.”

Danny barely slowed. “I'm Danny Hebert, I got a call from the PRT to come here.”

The two officers looked at each other and one asked for his ID while the other one made a call on his radio. After the officer checked his ID, he motioned for Danny to follow him. “Right this way, Sir. One of the Protectorate will meet us and escort you inside.” The other officer went back to patrolling the lot.

“What is going on? Where is my daughter?” Danny was worried, and he could feel his temper rising. Sudden calls from the PRT or police were almost never good news.

“I don't know, Sir. All I know is that the PRT cordoned off the entire building and isn't letting anyone inside.” They were stopped at a line of barricades set up and guarded by PRT troopers. “This is Danny Hebert.” The troopers checked his ID again and as they did, a Protectorate hero appeared next to them.

After Danny had his ID back, Velocity led him toward the front door of the school. Danny started to ask what was going on again, but Velocity spoke first. “I'll explain everything, once we're inside and we don't have to worry about the news crews and their shotgun microphones.”

Velocity nodded at the two PRT troopers at the door and waited for them to open one. Danny and Velocity went inside and passed though the entryway, where Velocity stopped. “Mr Hebert, I am going to start by saying that your daughter appears to be okay at this time. I will take you to her in a minute.” He took a breath and continued talking as if he was reciting something. “At approximately eight twenty-five this morning, somebody shoved Taylor in a locker and locked it. Taylor appears to have triggered from the event.”

Danny's fists curled. He took a deep breath and held it for a five count. He didn't follow cape news any more than he had to, but Annette had run with some capes during her college days and after they started dating, she'd warned him about asking any parahuman about how they got their powers, explaining what caused trigger events. Something niggled at the back of his mind but he pushed it away for a more important matter. “I would like to see my daughter now,” he said tightly, certain that screaming and hitting things would not help right now.

Velocity led him down a hallway that seemed to follow the outside of the building. There made a turn and saw a group of troopers ahead at an intersection. They moved aside and Velocity led him around a corner.

Both sides of this hall were lined with lockers and about twenty feet down the left side looked as if someone had set off a bomb in one of them, twisted bits of metal and other things spreading out from one point along the wall. Danny noted that all absently, as most of his attention was one the orb in the center of the hallway.

It reached from the floor to the ceiling and was about eight feet across. The orb glowed a faint green that wouldn't have been noticeable outdoors and was transparent.

Taylor floated in the center of the orb.

Danny started toward the orb and was stopped. He looked at the hand on his arm and for an instant he wanted to tear it off of him and bash. He cut the thought off. He looked at the trooper that had stopped him. “Sir, the orb shocks anyone that gets within five feet of it.” He pointed beyond the glowing ball and Danny noticed a trooper on the floor being checked by a medic, if the bag at his side was any indication.

Danny nodded and stopped about ten feet from the ball, looking at Taylor. She had her eyes closed and looked as if she was asleep. He watched her for a minute and was reassured that she was alive when he saw her chest rise and fall. As he looked at her, other details caught his eye and he began to examine her more closely. When he was done he looked around at the hallway and the debris everywhere.

The center of whatever had happened here appeared to be a locker even with the green orb holding his daughter. Troopers were tagging everything and marking items. Two were taking an endless series of pictures of everything in the hall, while still others were doing something with tubes and fluids.

Danny turned to Velocity. “I assume that was the locker she was pushed into?” he asked in a deceptively calm voice.

Velocity looked at him, warning bells going off in his head. “Mr. Hebert, I did not mention the other stuff because I thought you would rather see your daughter for yourself. We can discuss everything else now.”

Danny stared at him and slowly nodded. “That would be good,” he said, “As I would like to know why it appears that the locker also had bloody tampons and various bugs in it and who did it.”

“At this time, we don't know. Everyone that has a locker in this hallway will be questioned. We have some leads right now, but no proof yet. We will get to the bottom of this. Right now though, you have a bigger problem to think about.” Velocity pulled out his phone and cued up a video he had waiting. He handed it to Danny. “There's probably a dozen of these on the net already. We're trying to pull them down as fast as we can, but we didn't know about them until a mod on PHO alerted us. I'm afraid your daughter has already been outed as a parahuman.”

Danny looked at the video that showed Taylor's face clearly. He grimaced. Some idiot calling himself XxVoid_CowboyxX had actually posted Taylor's name.

Velocity was watching Mr. Hebert carefully. He'd seen the signs of a man holding his temper by sheer will before and he didn't want to have to restrain the father of a fresh trigger. The dockworker seemed to be controlling himself so far, but that would change if he found out who had put his daughter in the locker.

Robin had heard from the PRT investigators that several people had fingered Sophia Hess, a track star here at Winslow. He had also seen Armsmaster's response to that name and Robin had put together a few facts and a couple of guesses. Shadow Stalker had joined the Wards, but not been transferred to Arcadia with the rest of the Wards. Armsmaster had recognized the Hess name and as the head of the Protectorate, he knew all the heroes and Wards in or out of costume.

Danny was feeling helpless, again. Taylor was trapped in a bubble of something and all he could do was watch her breathe. He had no idea what he would do if she stopped. As he watched her, something caught his eye. Taylor was wearing jeans and a baggy hoodie, so it took him a minute to be sure of what he was seeing. Taylor was growing, changing somehow. Her ankles were sticking further out of her pants than they had been and the material around the thigh was tighter.

Danny pointed that out to Velocity and after reviewing the footage of the camera facing her, the PRT agreed. The power armored hero and a couple of other people examining the bubble began trying to push things into it, pull Taylor out or erase the bubble, all of which failed.

By lunch time, only Armsmaster was still working on it and Velocity convinced Danny to back up a bit and watch from a chair and table just outside the scene perimeter so they could eat.

*Director Piggot's Office, Day one.*

Miss Militia stood before the Director's desk as Piggot read the report. After the director finished the report she stared at the wall for a minute. “This is all confirmed?”

Miss Militia nodded. “Several people identified Sophia Hess as the person to push Miss Hebert into the locker and at least two of them had videos of it. Given that, we detained her and the two girls that were her accomplices. Their phones are full of texts about the prank. It was planned last year. They broke into the school over the holidays and filled her locker with the contents of a dozen or more feminine disposal containers and left it to rot. According to the detective, they have enough evidence to charge them with Unlawful Confinement, Battery, Conspiracy and Premeditation.” Miss Militia looked at her notes. “Depending on what the forensic team finds in the waste, a Federal charge of Bio-Terrorism is possible.”

Director Piggot blinked and considered that. She used her computer to check the wording of the laws and groaned. “So, if the forensic people find any diseases in that mess, they could charge them with bio-terrorism.”

Miss Militia nodded again. “Yes, but the detective doubts that charge would be pressed, unless the victim caught whatever disease was in there. It's a hard thing to prove the intent behind the charge. Without the intent to cause terror, the charge probably won't stick.”

“Well, that's one good thing here. Where is Sophia's handler?”

“She's being questioned now, along with Principal Blackwell and most of the teachers. The information coming to light is not good. The teachers were kept quiet by threats to their tenure and jobs by Blackwell. Agent Davis and Blackwell both helped hide Sophia's actions for different reasons. Agent Davis wanted a good conclusion to her career as she was planning on retiring in a year or so. Blackwell was being pressured by the father of one of Sophia's friends who happens to be a lawyer. Then, Sophia became a Ward and the funds for having a Ward in classes started coming in. With Winslow's budget, she would have put up with far more for that extra, especially since she didn't have to report those funds to the school board.”

Piggot frowned. “Why doesn't she have to report those funds?”

“Reporting that the PRT is giving a school money pinpoints the location of a Ward. To avoid that, the Principal accounts for those funds to the Agent in charge of the school. Blackwell did that, and as far as the investigators can tell, all the funds were used properly.”

“If all of this gets out, how bad is it going to be?”

Miss Militia thought for a minute. “Shadow Stalker is ruined for this city. The E88 will have a field day talking about a black girl doing this to a white girl, the Wards will take a big hit and some parents may not allow their kids in a program with Shadow Stalker. Add the fact that she was on Probation and we should have been watching her? She has to go. We'll take a hit, but we could make it out the other side. We'd have to convict agent Davis, make a new set of regulations about handlers, which we need to do anyway, and make it all public. We admit to a screw up, and then let the people see us fixing it.”

Piggot considered her reasoning and agreed. “For now, I want Shadow Stalker confined to base. Explain to her mother what is going on, and get her agreement. Put a brute two taser anklet on Hess and make sure every I is dotted and T crossed in her investigation. The same with Agent Davis. Coordinate with the police about the other girls, make sure that everything is airtight. If this does get out, we need to be able to show that we are fixing the problem. Now, tell me about Miss Hebert.”

“Miss Hebert is encased in a roughly ten foot circle of some sort of energy that doesn't register on any instrument we have yet. She is changing, adding mass from whatever the bubble is doing to her. Anything else is conjecture at this point, since the orb is actively attacking all attempts to probe it and the attacks are escalating. The first few attempts got an electrical jolt, about like a cheap stun gun. After three of those, it jumped to a heavy cattle prod style hit and now it has started using a physical force hit with electrical discharge. Since the last attack fried every electronic device within forty feet, they have stopped trying to break the bubble for now.”

Piggot sighed. “So, there is nothing to do but see if the bubble will let her go?” Miss Militia shrugged. “Hopefully it happens soon, or Armsmaster finds a way to break the bubble. Now, how did a new trigger get outed so quickly?”

“Bad luck, and a mistaken student. Do you remember Uber and Leet putting all those people in giant hamster balls a while back? The student that posted the first video thought it was the same sort of thing, and posted the video as an attack by a gang. It was up within five minutes of event starting, and Velocity didn't get there for nearly fifteen minutes. In the time in between, five hundred people saw it and at least fifty downloaded it. After Velocity realized it was a trigger event and not an attack, they started damage control, but it was too late. Taylor Hebert's name and face are out there, and there's no way to bring it back.”

Piggot shook her head. “That is not on us, then. All we can do now is run damage control.” She looked at Miss Militia. “What do we know about Miss Hebert? Will she be a hero or a villain?”

Miss Militia shook her head. “We haven't got a clue. Taylor Hebert is Danny Hebert's daughter.”

Director Piggot frowned, trying to remember where she'd heard that name before and then closed her eyes. “Danny Hebert, the dock worker guy, the one that's been on the Mayor for a decade about reopening the ferry?” At Miss Militia's nod she groaned. “If she's half as stubborn as he is, she's going to be trouble either way.”

“It gets better,” Miss Militia said with a resigned air, “Her mother ran with Lustrum during her college days and only got out a few weeks before Lustrum's arrest.” She smiled slightly at the nearly inaudible swearing. “Miss Hebert hasn't shown any signs of political activism yet, but she is young. Not that either of those matter nearly as much as the stuff coming out of Winslow and the interviews there.”

Piggot queried her with a raised eyebrow. “We can't prove it yet, but the evidence is showing that stuffing Miss Hebert in a locker was the end of an extended bout of bullying that might go all the way back to her first day in high school. Before High school, she was a good enough student to qualify for Acadia, and her starting assignments in High school are the same. About two months into the year, she started not turning assignments in, and made a few complaints about three girls, which Blackwell ignored and shoved under a rug. All of these actions are different from all of her previous school years.”

“Tell me Sophia Hess isn't one of those girls.”

“Sophia Hess, Emma Barnes and Madison Clements are the three. From what the investigators are getting from other students, they are the queens of their year and like to throw that around. Barnes' father is a lawyer with a tendency to throw his weight around, Sophia is their best track prospect and Taylor is the sacrifice to keep them both.”

“How the hell did all of this get past the first inspection, when we inducted Hess?” Piggot was fuming, Miss Militia noticed. “Agent Davis should have noticed this and stopped it before she even knew that she'd be assigned to Shadow Stalker for the duration of her probation.”

“I'm not sure yet, the investigators are still interviewing Davis, but from the filed records, I would say she never even went to Winslow. The only enlistment reports from the school are based on interviews with Blackwell and Hess' lawyer, who just happened to be Mr. Barnes. I looked at the school records and they were faxed to Davis' office, not collected in person. I did notice one thing that is wrong in them, but to be fair, I only noticed it because I know Hess. There's not one disciplinary incident on her records, no late for class, nothing. Since Sophia Hess likes to fight and is a blunt black girl in a school with at least forty or so E88 members, I find that hard to believe.”

Piggot snorted. “Hess on time for every class? Bullshit. She has yet to manage to do a single patrol without being late either showing up, making radio checks or returning.”

Piggot drummed her fingers as she thought about the mess that had been dumped in her lap. “Get with PR, give them everything under a secret classification and get them started on managing our part of it. Tell our investigators they are authorized three people to get overtime, up to twenty hours each, but I want results by Friday. If it goes longer than that, the lead investigator better have a damn good reason.” She thought for a minute. “Put Hess on the Rig, keep her away from the other Wards. You will brief the Wards today. If anyone asks them, Shadow Stalker is considering retiring or transferring out of the city and is on vacation.”

Miss Militia nodded and left the office as Emily thought. “Damn that Hess. More trouble than a shave-tail Lieutenant and not as useful.” She made some notes on a pad as she thought about what she would have to do. Hess would have to have an advocate, one versed in civilian law and PRT regulations, which threw Barnes out, even if the conflict of interest wouldn’t. It took her the better part of three hours to deal with the mess Shadow Stalker had dumped in her lap, and it was probably a good thing she didn’t have a remote to trigger the anklet Hess would be wearing by now.

*Day One, BBPD Precinct 24.*

“So that's what we have now, Jerry. All of this is as solid as it can be, we've got dozens of witnesses to work with, now that those three have been caught and arrested, and forensics will tie up the loose ends. The only problem is that NDA matter.”

Jerry Hatfield frowned. “Actually, it's not a problem. We're charging the civilian identity with crimes, no mention needs to be made in court about any part of the other matter at all. From the fervor the PRT investigators are showing, they'll take care of that matter for us.”

Detective David McCoy nodded. “How long is it going to take to file the charges on the girls? Barnes' father is driving everyone crazy. Fucking lawyer.”

Assistant DA Hatfield smirked. “Next time he comes around, remind him that he is a divorce attorney, not a criminal law specialist, nor is he qualified to speak before a federal court. If any disease is found by the forensic team in the residue, this could easily become a federal matter. He should be spending his time finding a qualified lawyer.”

Detective McCoy ran his hand through his thinning blonde hair. “He'll be pissed, you know.”

“I know,” his friend of fifteen years said, “and I don't give a damn. If the damned fool had spend as much time over the last couple of years raising his daughter as he does harassing people, maybe she wouldn't be in this trouble. I think she'll get a mental examination before we start to charge her. There's something not right with that girl.” The black haired DA sighed. “I think that incident with the ABB screwed with her head, and as far as I can tell, they never did anything about it.”

The detective stood up from his desk and stretched, rolling his shoulders. Jerry watched him, struck again by just how tall his friend was. Jerry was six foot one, and his friend towered a good seven inches above him. Jerry shook his head and listened to David. “I'm sure that ABB incident in the record had something to do with it, but you didn't hear the Hess interview, did you?” Jerry shook his head and David continued. “Hess has a fucked up worldview. You might want to get her checked when you do Barnes.”

“A cape with a screw loose? Say it ain't so.” The two friends shared a cynical smile and then David frowned. “The victim is going to be trouble, you know.” At Jerry's puzzled look, he continued. “Hebert? Danny Hebert's daughter?”

Jerry swore. “I didn't know he had a daughter.”

“Yeah, he does. If he figures out that a PRT Ward had anything to do with what happened, he's going to go ballistic.”

Jerry frowned. “How deep is he entrenched in the unions?”

Detective McCoy snorted. “He couldn’t get any deeper. He’s the only person keeping local 240 open, and in doing so, he’s made connections with every union in the city. Hell, half the patrolmen on the street came out of the 240. Add that he’s willing to send his people to assist the construction unions, the street workers after a big cape fight and a dozen others, as well as training union reps and office workers, and he’s probably the biggest union man in the city.”

Jerry sighed. “Not to mention that Annette was one of the best teachers at the local college and half the city workers remember her fondly.”

David grinned. “Remember the anti-cape rally?”

Jerry laughed. “Still have that video on my computer. I’ve never heard anyone torn down so well, before or since. I think he shrank five inches while she laid into him.”

They shared a grin at the memory and then Jerry sighed. “Annette was a grand lady. Her passing was a tragedy.”

“You heard about the drunk driver that hit her, right?” David asked quietly.

“Of course. Pity he fell down the stairs like that.”

David nodded. “Real pity.” He shook off the past and thought. “So, how bad can Hebert screw up the PRT if he wants to?”

Jerry frowned. “It depends. He’s been active in the unions forever. He has to know where most, if not all the bodies are buried. Between that and the favors he is owed, the PRT may not be able to get any union workers at all. That’s trash, cleaners and maintenance at a minimum, plus anything else they contract out.”

“Their landscapers and mechanics are union as well.”

“So, yeah, he could screw them over big time, but is he the type to do it?”

David looked at Jerry. “You didn’t hear this from me. Back when Allfather and the Marquis were running wild, they made some efforts to get people into Local 240.” Jerry was listening avidly. “Hebert went to them and agreed to not screw with their members running private boats out of the docks, but flat out told them that the DWU was off limits.”

Jerry blinked. “How the hell could he enforce that?”

David shrugged. “Did you know that the DWU prefers people with military experience? Almost half of them have four or more years in one branch or another. They’ve got at least six with commercial explosive licenses. Hebert told them that if they wanted a war, he’d give it to them. Their capes might or might not be bullet proof, but no one is explosive proof, if you use enough explosives. He told them that if they kept fucking with the union, he’d start blowing up every person, car, truck or building with a gang sign on it and if he ran out of those targets, he’d get with the unions, and blow up every building registered to anyone that worked with or for them.”

“How did they not kill him?” Jerry asked, stunned. “I mean, Hookwolf alone could take out most every person in the damn city.”

“They sent a cape to kill him, or at least Allfather did. Marquis just agreed, as long as the DWU followed his rules. Hebert agreed and the Marquis and the union were good. Allfather, though, sent one of his lesser capes to “talk” to Hebert.”

Jerry blinked. “I assume that talk didn’t go well, since Hebert is still here.”

“It didn’t go at all. According to the official record, the cape was a brute type and bashing things open, calling for Hebert to face him when he broke open a container of Di-oxygen difluoride.”

“Of what?”

“Yeah, that was my response as well. It’s a chemical that burns things, any thing, it burns in water, burns steel, explodes violently when exposed to almost everything organic. By the time it stopped burning, they couldn’t even prove there was a person there and the road had to be replaced for thirty feet around that spot.” David shrugged. “Hebert proved to Allfather that it would blow up or burn everything in the city, including capes. Now that might not have stopped Allfather, except that the stuff can be made fairly easily, in fact, storing it is more of a problem.”

“Jesus.” Jerry shook his head. “What happened after that?”

“Nothing. To this day, the DWU is the only union without any gang members in it.”

Jerry shook his head again. “Jesus,” he repeated and then looked thoughtful. “Do you think he might do something extreme to the girls?”

David opened his mouth to say something and paused. He closed his mouth and scratched his chin for a moment. “I would say no, since he agreed with the Marquis about not targeting women and children, except... well, he’s got a temper.” David looked at Jerry. “Back when I was a beat cop, Annette was still alive and Taylor was, three or so? Somebody went to Annette’s office and tried to browbeat her into changing his kid’s grade to a passing grade.”

Jerry snickered. “That didn’t fly.”

“Of course not, but when she refused, he hit her.” David grinned. “His mistake. Back in her college days, Annette ran with Lustrum for a while.”

“Wasn’t that the ultra feminist that was castrating men?”

“The very one. Annette kicked his ass, hogtied him and sat on his head until campus security hauled him away. Thing is, about a week later, he turned up again, with two knees so badly broken that they almost amputated his legs at the thigh. We investigated, of course, but his only comment was that he fell. The detective could tell he was scared shitless, but nothing made him change his story.”

“Nothing to tie it to Hebert, I take it?”

David rolled his eyes. “Hebert was at a DWU function that night, with fifty people willing to swear up and down that he was in sight of one of them all night.” David shook his head. “Never had so many willing witnesses before or since.”

“So, if Miss Hebert doesn’t come out of this okay...”

David looked grim. “Hebert could kick off the worse fighting this city has seen since the Slaughterhouse Nine was here, yes.”

The two men were silent as they considered the future.

Day One, Coil.

In his alpha timeline, Coil was reading the papers about young Miss Hebert with interest. According to the PRT people onsite, she had grown at least six inches and put on enough muscle that her pants had split at the thigh. She would make an interesting case, if she ever came out of the bubble, that is.

In his beta timeline, he was interrogating Tattletale again. This had become a weekly thing, since the damn girl just would not stop trying to get away. This week, she had managed to buy off one of his mercenaries, opened a back door to his computer and was looking for a plastic surgeon with morals that could be bought with cash. He made a note of the back door, and how she did it. He might be able to use that himself. After he was finished with her he stood in front of her until her one eye that could open focused on him. He smiled as her power fed her his intentions and slowly, so very slowly drew the scalpel across her neck, watching her eye the entire time. After she died he smirked at her and ended the timeline.

In his Alpha timeline, he split time again and went to talk to the captain about the idiot Tattletale had bought. An example must be made after all. Damn it, if you bought a man, he should stay bought.

Robert Jackson was not a nice man. He was a killer, a rapist and the kind of person that ended up doing life in an ultra-max prison. When he saw Coil coming and the change in body language when Coil saw him, he knew the game was up. Without hesitation, he drew his pistol and put seven rounds though Coil's body, center mass. The other mercenaries shot him, of course, but as the light faded from his eyes, he saw the pool of blood under coil and knew he didn't go into the darkness alone. He felt the bracelet the little blonde girl had given him tingle as he closed his eyes for the last time.

In his Alpha timeline, Coil swore, and split the timelines again, one of him running for the escape hatch behind him and the other sliding under his desk to grab the equipment stashed there. He'd add a few more weapons and grenades in case there were more traitors and go talk to the captain again. He grabbed the small bag there and lifted it. He had just enough time to see the picture of Tattletale, smirking and flipping him off before the bag exploded.

In his beta timeline, he swore. Obviously, Tattletale had gotten further than he had found out. He debated splitting the timeline again, but with the door closed behind him, he could only go one way, there was no point. He went down the tunnel that led to the sewers quickly. The sooner he could get to a point where he could split the timeline, the happier he would be.

He came around the last corner and pulled up short. His blood ran cold as he looked at the door to the sewers. There was a full size picture of that damn girl again. Next to it was a small tape machine attached to a motion sensor.

“Heya, Boss.” Tattletale’s voice was cheerful and so full of smug he could swear he could see it. “It took me a long time to figure out your power, but you fucked up. I created two escape plans that weren't real, and yet, you “stopped” them, even though only I knew about them. After that, figuring you out was easy.”

Coil swore again. “Now, being the nice person I am, there is a way out of here. It's easy, even. There is a keypad behind my smiling face. All you have to do is put in the number of minutes I have worked for you as of last Monday.”

Coil split his timeline and started working the math feverishly, even as he listened to Tattletale. “I hope you brought a calculator with you, or that you can have enough timelines to finish. Oh, and just to give you that little bit of pressure, all of your traps in this escape path of doom will rearm with new codes in eight minutes from now.”

Coil snarled. When he got out of here, he was going to make a daily habit of killing that bitch. His second timeline finished the math a minute later and he took great pleasure in ripping the picture off the wall.

He froze as he saw the keypad and a photosensitive switch next to it.

“Did I say anything about tearing my picture, asshole?”

In his last second, as the trigger light turned red, coil--

Day One, Kaiser.

Kaiser frowned as he watched the PHO video for the second time. He shut it down and sighed, considering the possibilities. Finally he looked up. Victor and Othala were watching him silently from the small love seat against the wall. “We will wait and watch on this one. I know she’s white, and with that black girl doing this, she might be amendable to our cause. However, her father is Danny Hebert. I’m not certain that he’s the same man that threatened to burn Brockton Bay down since the loss of his wife, but a bit of patience is called for.” He considered the Bay for a minute. “Lung can’t use her, and another attack on her by another minority would only help us, assuming she survives. The Merchants have no chance to pick her up and even now she’s too normal for Faultline. Coil... might be a problem.”

Victor frowned. “Why do we step lightly around a normal person? I could snipe him with no evidence leading back to us.”

Kaiser looked at him, thinking. “Maybe you could, maybe not. Thinkers can pull information out of nowhere and every member of that union owes their jobs to Hebert. If anyone ever suspected that one of us killed him, they would probably explode. He may be the boss, but he couldn’t have convinced Marquis and my father that he would cost them more than the docks are worth by himself. Unless we can find and kill everyone of his people, that leads to the same thing.”

Kaiser frowned. “Spread the word among our brothers in Winslow. Keep an eye on young Hebert if she returns, but take no action without my word. I want to know everything about her. If she's more like her mother, this may be an opening.”

*Day One, Lung.*

Kenta listened to the report of an ABB soldier from Winslow. “Pity she’s not one of us. Tell our people to leave her be for now. Her father and I have an agreement. If she holds to it, then things will go on as they have.”

“What if she doesn’t, Sir?”

Kenta rumbled deep in his throat. “In that case, I will deal with her. Personally.”

*Tattletale, Day one.*

Tattletale was absolutely fascinated. She’d watched the video of the girl in the bubble seven times. She’d tracked down and found all four of the videos that were circling the net, and her power told her nothing about the bubble or the girl in it.

She’d gotten more information searching city and school databases than from direct observation. As far as her power was concerned, the bubble and the girl in it just didn’t exist.

She was starting it for an eighth time when her phone began playing Dire Strait’s “Money for Nothing”. She stared at it for a second, checked the Text message and made a call.

When it went unanswered, her smug grin was replaced with an unholy smirk. Bubble girl was forgotten in her rush to steal and hide as much of Coil’s money as she could.

*Taylor and Allikki, Day One.*

Taylor opened her eyes, blinking sleep out of her eyes and mind. She sat up on reflex, ready to start the day when sight cut the sleep fog in her mind. She froze, sitting on the edge of a bed she'd never seen before.

Looking around, her confusion only grew. The bedroom she was in looked like something from a palace, or a historical drama. Silk and gold gilt was everywhere, and the room was as big as her house. It was very nice she had to admit, but how had she gotten here?

She tried to think back, but her last memory was of getting to school and walking in the front door.

As she thought, the door opened up and a woman came in with a tray. “Hello Taylor,” she said, looking at her. “Do you feel alright?”

Taylor stared at her. She was almost exactly Taylor’s height, with golden eyes and long black hair that went to her waist even in a braid.

Taylor had a million questions and started with the first two that came to her brain. “Where am I, and who are you?”

The woman smiled gently and moved over to a table. “Sit down, Taylor, and have a cup of tea with me. This is likely to be a long conversation and you will have to make several decisions during it.”

Taylor chewed her lip while she thought about her options. Finally she shrugged. Her options were limited and as long as the woman was polite there was no reason for her not to be. Besides, the woman knew more than she did, and if she was willing to tell her what was going on, that would give her more information.

Taylor sat down across from the woman and watched as she began pouring tea. As she served them both, the woman began talking. “My name is Allikki and I must beg your pardon. I have interfered in your life today and while it was with the best of intentions, it will affect you for the rest of your life.”

Taylor held her cup of tea and stared at Allikki. “What do you mean?”

“When you arrived at school today, your tormentors did something disgusting to you, that you cannot remember right now. After we have talked, I will return that memory. When they did it, you would have triggered and become a Parahuman. I did not want that fate for you and stopped you from becoming a parahuman.”

“You can do that?” Taylor had never heard of triggering, but she'd never heard that becoming a parahuman could be stopped either, and since it had happened to her, that seemed more important.

Allikki chuckled, deep in her throat. “Oh, you have no idea about what we can do yet. That’s part of why we are talking now. I am going to teach you to do so very much you have never dreamed of.”

Taylor thought about that as she sipped her tea. “You’re doing something to me now, aren’t you? That’s why I am not freaking out or crying in the corner, isn’t it?” Taylor knew she should be more worried than she was, but somehow, her feelings were muted.

“I am. I need you to be able to think for a bit. After you know the basics, I will stop the effect and let you scream or cry or throw things, whatever you need to do to relieve your emotions.”

“And what if I change my mind about those decisions you mentioned when I am emotional again?”

Allikki sighed, and put down her cup. “Then I will have to go to another choice. I have chosen you for this, but in the interest of honesty, you were not my first choice. If you were not about to become a parahuman, I would have chosen a man in Australia.”

“That is the second time you’ve mentioned choosing me because of almost becoming a cape. Why does that matter?”

Allikki looked at her for a long minute. “That is one of those things we will have to talk about after you have emotional control again. For now, suffice it to say that if everything goes well, there will be no Parahumans in a decade.”

Taylor stared. Even with her emotions muted she felt a shiver of fear of the woman that had just stated she was planning on killing thousands or people. That she was going to use Taylor somehow only made it worse. “No capes at all? Not even the heroes?”

Allikki sighed, a deep sadness in her eyes. She began speaking softly. “The thing that gives people powers has given other races powers, in eons past. Those powers are bits of itself. When it is finished with whatever it gives out those powers for, it will collect them all up and destroy the planet it used, and every incarnation of that planet, across millions of dimensions. I have been tracking the thing down for millennium, and have found three races destroyed, along with everything that their planets could have been. Each of those bits of it has the potential to grow and become yet another one of its race. If we leave one power alive, it will eventually become another full grown creature and start the cycle all over again.”

Taylor thought about that for a very long time indeed, asking questions as they occurred to her. Allikki answered all of her questions, painting a horrible picture of what the creature did and what would happen to Earth Bet and Aleph and tens of thousands more that no one on Bet had ever known about or ever would.

By the time Allikki was done answering all of Taylor’s questions, Taylor had a very clear picture of the information that Allikki had amassed over the last ten thousand years about the creatures. That one of them was already dead and destroyed was nice, but now Taylor had an entirely new set of questions.

“What does all of this have to do with me? I’m a human school girl, who won’t live as long as you can hold your breath, apparently.”

Allikki coughed slightly. “That’s not exactly true, now. In order to stop the bit from attaching to you, I had to change you, a little.”

Taylor looked at her. “How much is a little”?   
“To kill this creature is going to take a lot of work, a lot of power and skills you could not have learned in time as a human and a little luck. Your body is now the absolute maximum that it could be, with years of genetic alteration and magic.”   
“Magic?”   
“You don’t have the concepts in any earth language for this form of energy manipulation, so calling it magic is the easiest way. It’s not really magic, but since human senses can’t detect it, nor have you advanced your science to the point of being able to detect or use it, magic will work as a catch all term for it. As we work together, I will teach you languages and concepts that will work better, be more precise about it.”  
“So how long is it going to take to teach me all this stuff and how are we going to do it?”   
Allikki grinned suddenly. “Three days, earth time, but due to certain advantages we both have now, it's going to seem much longer in here.”  
Taylor blinked and looked at the window, where the sun was shining through the glass. “Where are we, anyway?”   
“We’re in your mind, using my magic and idealized memories of yours to create a place to train, but with greatly reduced passage of time. Out in your world, 75 hours will pass, but in here, it will depend on how fast you learn and how much I can teach you without physical things you cannot imagine yet.”   
Taylor stared at the window for a long time. She was being offered a change to save the world, many worlds and gain more power than anyone but Scion... Her thoughts trailed off as she considered what she knew, what Allikki had told her and spun to look at Allikki. “Scion is the creature, isn’t he?”  
Allikki smiled. “Very good. I have chosen a great Avatar.”  
Taylor rubbed her face with both hands. “When I get my emotions back, I am going to freak out, aren’t I?”  
“Yes, I have already planned to leave a month or so for your emotional breakdown and reestablishment.”  
“Then, we’d better get started.” 

*Day One, Winslow High School.*

“Sir, your monitors are showing something.”

Armsmaster strode to the desk his equipment was stacked on. Since they couldn’t touch or enter the bubble, he had pieced together some stuff with Dragon that would monitor Taylor from a distance. Already, the girl was at least seven feet tall, and what muscle they could see under her hoodie and the remains of her pants was sharply defined. Her skin tone had changed slightly, becoming slightly darker than her original pale skin, with a golden tint.

He shook off thoughts about her physical appearance and read the monitors. “Electrical activity has increased in the cranium. It is consistent with the activity of thinking, except faster.”

Danny looked at him. “She is okay, though, right?”

Armsmaster considered his instruments and gauges again. “As far as I can tell without knowing exactly what changes she is going through, she is fine. Heartbeat, lung action and all the physiological signs we can monitor are steady and stable.”

Danny clenched his fists and relaxed slowly. “So, all we can do is wait?”

“Yes.”


	3. Training Taylor and other stuff.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lo and behold, moar words. Hopefully arranged in a way you like. Also, once a week will not work. Since I am the on call Pathologist for accidents involving deaths, suicides and other unattended deaths, I never know when I might be called out or how long it is going to take. That said.. Words!
> 
> So, the first half of this is a bleeding info dump. Taylor has being getting a crash course in the reality of being a dragon's Avatar, lessons in more than forty thousand years of science from a hundred planets, dimensions and universes and in “Magic”. Now, it's time for her to rejoin the world, which means dealing with humans and Parahumans. Heh, Earth Bet isn't going to know what hit them.
> 
> Please note, for the purposes of this story, Canon is what is in Worm, period. No Quest, Ward or Q&A answers from anywhere else matter. I downloaded a copy of Worm about two weeks after it was finished and that is what I am using as the Canon I am destroying. Yes, that means Browbeat left BB and didn't die in the Levi attack.

Allikki, Chapter Two.

Taylor and Allikki.

Taylor looked around the room she had lived in for the last three or four years. Between the lessons and the passage of time in a place where time didn't really matter, she had lost track of days many times. However long she had been studying with Allikki. She turned and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She stepped across the room and looked at herself again. Her mental body mirrored the changes her physical body was going through and it had taken a long time to get used to what she was seeing in the mirror.

Taylor stood six foot two inches tall and had skin that was almost golden in hue. Her hair was still black, but now it flowed in a curly mass nearly to her knees when not braided up. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of green with slit pupils and slightly larger than they had been. The basic shape of her face had not changed, but it had changed in little ways. It had taken Allikki nearly a year to overcome her previous ideas about her body, but Taylor had finally accepted that except for the slit pupils, she was beautiful in a healthy athletic way. Allikki had been amused at first and then irritated at her attitude.

“Foolishness, child. You have been advanced to the best a human body can be, did you think it would not change your appearance? I note you have not complained about not needing glasses anymore.”

Allikki had changed shape, taking a dozen or more forms, mostly humanoid. “When you change, you can be anything you want, but it you just let it flow, it will make you the same in your new form, the very best that race can be.”

Taylor shook her head and threw off the memories of the early days. She pulled on a pair of silk pants and a sports bra, levitating her sneakers from the closet as she got ready to start her morning exercise. Allikki had told her that while magic could keep her form in perfect shape, endurance and skill still required practice and effort. Taylor grinned. At least something took effort on the physical side, her lessons had mostly been Allikki doing the equivalent of a data dump, transferring files from her mind to Taylor's mind. Taylor was barely aware of so many things she had learned, knowing that she would have to choose to use the things she'd learned in order to make them something more than data in her brain.

Some of it would have to wait years. She 'knew' the languages and customs of a thousand races, but until her world was safe, she couldn't go jaunting off around the dimensions meeting new people. Taylor blushed as she remembered the days that Allikki had dumped all of that information in her head.

It had been nearly a year before Taylor was able to accept the mental info dumps, and she had been learning to change shape long before that. She had seen Allikki's natural shape many times and had been thinking of her as a Dragon, as her natural shape bore a distinct resemblance to the legends and myths of Earth Bet. Allikki was a deep golden color, with four legs and wings. Add the reptilian scales and you had a near perfect Dragon. The smaller forearms with eight fingered hands were different of course, but Taylor's mind had insisted on calling her a Dragon.

Allikki had reminded her a couple of times about her not being a fire breathing lizard and finally had gotten irritated. She had taken two days to dump the languages and customs of every race she had run into across the dimensions into Taylor's head. While Humanoid shapes were fairly common, Taylor had learned of races that ran the gamut from more legs than a millipede to a race that was a puddle of ooze. It hadn't taken long for Taylor to realize that calling Allikki a dragon was the same as calling a human an ape, just because they had the same shape.

Taylor opened the door to the bedroom and went out. As her mental discipline grew, her mental house had grown. It was complete now, and even had a large yard and exercise area. She stopped in the kitchen and started water on the stove. She didn't really need to eat or drink here, but the habit was comforting to her.

She went outside and grinned at the sky, which was a clear blue with just a few fluffy white clouds. The temperature was brisk, but not cold, perfect for exercise. It hadn't taken long for Taylor to realize that in her own mind, she wasn't at the mercy of the weather. Now it only rained or snowed when she wanted it to, the rest of the time the weather was perfect for whatever she was doing. She grinned as she decided to go flying later. Of all the things she had learned to do, flying was among the very best.

She was halfway though her routine when Allikki appeared in a flash of light. “Good morning, Taylor.” Allikki was dressed similarly to Taylor and began exercising along side her. “It's time for you to return to the world, Taylor.”

Taylor stopped and looked at her, a slight panic rising in her chest. “But, there's so much more to learn, I'm not ready yet,” she began babbling.

Allikki snorted. “Taylor, you have more knowledge in your head than all the libraries of Earth combined. You know at least a dozen techniques to kill any creature or parahuman on Earth, and how to kill Zion after you find his body. All you need is practice now, since there is a difference between having the skill and the practical use of the power.” Allikki smiled. “Trust me, as you use your powers, it will take some time to learn to regulate your power. That's why so many of the skills I taught you concern reversing mistakes and healing skills.”

Allikki stopped and looked at her. “I know that this is a big thing I have asked of you, but remember that I will always be here to give you advice, even if I cannot help you physically. Just remember, you are a match for anyone on Earth. You have studied the known parahumans on that PHO of yours, you know most parahumans by costume and alignment. You will succeed, Taylor.”

Taylor snorted. “It's not Zion that worries me. That conspiracy group, whoever they are, the humans that will not fight openly, but try to use me somehow, the snakes in the grass are the ones that worry me.”

Allikki sighed. “I know you have some concerns about using all the powers I have given you, Taylor, but remember what your choices are. Either you win, or more earths than than we could visit in ten thousand years will be destroyed. Every person that stands in your way is one more chance for Zion to win.”

“I know,” Taylor said quietly, “but reading somebody's mind, invading the only thing that should be theirs alone just seems wrong to me.”

“There will be those that oppose you, for whatever reasons. You can painlessly take the information you need from their minds, kill them or multiply their sensations and then peel the skin from them slowly. Which sounds the least wrong to you?”

“Killing them.”

Allikki shook her head. “You'll understand, someday. Not all who oppose you will be people that need killing and you will have to find another way.” She smirked at Taylor. “You do realize that the day you do decide that reading somebody's mind is the best choice, I will be there to say I told you so, right?”

Taylor began her cool down routine. “Yes, O Mistress of the Dark, I know that.”

Allikki grinned at her snark. “I am not dark, just pragmatic. Now, quit picturing the Sith lord, brat.”

Taylor smirked as she headed inside. “Yes, Darth Allikki.” She ducked the fireball, laughing and went inside, barely hearing Allikki's comment. “Impudent human.”

Three hours later, after a shower, breakfast and a long flight, Taylor and Allikki stood in the living room of Taylor mental construct for the last time.

Allikki looked at her. “You know what to do, you have the skills to do it. I will be around to help if you need advice, but remember, I cannot come to you. What happens from here on out is all up to you.”

Taylor looked at her for a minute and then hugged the older woman. “I will make you proud, Teacher,” she stated in the guttural language of Allikki's people. “I will bring honor to your lessons and success to your efforts.”

“See that you do, Youngling. While you are dealing with the enemy on Earth, I will be hunting the shards on the other planets.” She rolled her eyes at Taylor. “And yes, I can, if I take a bit more time, destroy the bits without destroying the entire planet. I will not cause the extinction of entire species without good cause, softy.”

Taylor smiled at her. “There are friends, allies, enemies and those that can neither hurt nor harm you,” she quoted, watching as her teacher covered her eyes with one hand and shook her head. “The measure of true sapience is how you treat each type of being.”

“Impudent human,” Allikki said affectionately, “You have chosen your costume and equipment, right? And have the skills to call it before the changeling orb drops?”

Taylor nodded. “I am as prepared as a soft human can get.”

Allikki stepped back. “Then it is time for me to go. Wait a minute after I am gone, then will yourself to your body.” Allikki stepped up and came Taylor a gentle kiss on the forehead. “It is a great pity that you were not born one of us. The fun we could have had, the last couple of eons.”

Taylor watched her fade away, already missing the presence that had been her constant companion these last few years. She looked around and on a whim, dust-covers fell on the furniture and the rooms of her house suddenly had the appearance of a place saved for some future time.

Taylor took a deep breath and will her costume into existence around her. She extended a tendril of her mind to her body and checked her surroundings. Some PRT people, Armsmaster and her father. She looked at the many cameras, scanners and other things not so easily identified and sighed.

It was time to put on a show.  
Legend,Houston  
Day Three.

Legend looked down at the body of his old friend and felt only numbness. Over the last three days, Parahumans had been dropping like flies. His only clue was a visit from Alexandria before she fell into the same coma that had claimed so many and the email she had left him. Every cape that had fallen over had been a Cauldron cape. Oh, some capes had died in other ways, Coil had died to another cape, and two capes had been killed in fights, but every one that had simply keeled over had been from Cauldron.

He regretted now that he didn't have a thinker power. It would have been nice to have more than Alexandria's last email to go on. Cauldron's base was not answering any calls, there was no one left except him who knew what they had been trying to do and without Contessa's power, he didn't have the fainest clue what to do now.

He looked at the waiting PRT troopers. “Take care of him.”

He left the office so he didn't have to see his friend stretchered out. He would be put on a plane and taken to Walter Reed, where some of the best minds in medicine, both normal and Parahuman would continue to try and figure out what was going on.

He spent a minute trying to remember exactly what had happened to him. Legend had been at home with his husband when he'd passed out. For an instant before the blinding pain struck him, he'd felt his powers leave him. He'd woken even before the ambulance had arrived and been fine. The only difference that he could tell without going to Cauldron's base for a full physical was that his power seemed to respond to his will a little better. He really couldn't put it in words. He shook it off and went to tell the Houston Protectorate that they would be without Eidolon for the foreseeable future. Legend sighed as he tried to figure out where he would do the most good right now. With so many capes falling ill, many gangs were weak, the Protectorate was done nearly a quarter of its capes and tensions were running high everywhere.

Worse yet, many of the capes that had fallen into comas had been in their civilian identities and had been outed as a result. There were dozens of groups insisting on throwing the villains into jail or the Birdcage, others insisting that they be treated first and a few suggesting that they just be left in comas, since in that condition they were no longer a danger.

The heroes were in even worse shape. The ones that had been outed had family and friends that had to be protected and the PRT was stretched thin trying to cover for missing heroes and protecting all the new families. Canary's trial was on hold until they knew if she would recover, Dragon had been tasked with maintaining security around Walter Reed and was unable to do as much elsewhere while she set up defense layers around the hospital.

The only good thing so far was that Alexandria's body double was holding up for now. Sooner or later though, she was going to have to do something that would require a top secret clearance, at which point the retina scanner would reject her. Legend was still trying to figure out what to do then.

Parahuman troubles were rising everywhere with the only good news being that some of the most dangerous villains had also been brought down by whatever it was. Manton was at Walter Reed,along side Shatterbird and Mama Mathers. The rest of the Slaughterhouse Nine were hiding,the non cape members of the Fallen were being rounded up without Mama Mathers interference. Valefor had died when someone had used a rifle to shoot him as he came out of his house. Given that the bullet was tinker-tech, Legend assumed that somebody would be in to claim the bounty soon and they would find out who killed him.

Just as he was finishing with the Protectorate, a PRT trooper informed him of a call. Twenty seconds later, Legend was at his best speed, going to show the flag and try to stamp out another brush-fire.

Mrs Knotts, Local 66, Brockton Bay Teacher's Union.  
Day Three

“Mrs Knotts, you have been a member of the union long enough to remember Annette Hebert. Questions are being asked and we'd like to know why the situation with her daughter got this far out of hand. All of you that belong to the union should know of Danny and what he can do if he wants to. The union leadership wants to know why and how this happened.” Union representative George Hoskins had an idea what had happened, but he needed confirmation.

“I can't say. I will however remind you that Annette beat out Carrie for union rep four times. Carrie doesn't take losing well.” Mrs. Knotts thought about how to get her point across without breaking the NDA she had signed. “There were other things as well, Mr. Barnes is a lawyer with a habit of suing people that could have cost the school a lot of money. Plus, there was a social worker for one of the girls that spent some time with Principal Blackwell.”

She looked at Hoskins. “I cannot say anything about that girl or her worker.” She stressed the word 'cannot' and saw the flare of interest in his eyes.

“Is that a school, student or other reason for not talking?”

“Other.”

George Hoskins smiled. “That's all I need to know. The Teacher's union will send a report to the other unions. In the meantime, you might want to warn Blackwell to get a lawyer of her own. I have a feeling she may need one soon. Nothing said or unsaid here will be in the report.”

Kurt, Pier 18.  
Day Three.

“Thanks, George. Send me an email copy, will you?”

Kurt hung up and considered all the information that he had. Some of it was hearsay, some were legal records that anyone could get a look at and some of it was not so legal records and comments, but it painted a grim picture of Winslow. The principal had ignored Taylor's problems for a variety of reason during her freshman year, including Barnes's threats of lawsuits and a long hatred of Annette, but these second year other whispers had come to light. The biggest one had come from a janitor at the school. He had calmly informed the union that “Them damn fool teachers didn't think I'd notice the locked shelf.” Curious as to what was being hidden, he'd climbed into the ceiling, fixed a couple of loose wires for a work order and looked into the small area by simply lifting a ceiling tile out of the way.

He'd found a PRT issue repeater and some bit of tinker tech electronic thing. Between that and the disregard of the teachers, who simply ignored the janitors while they were working, he had taken less than two weeks to figure out that there was a Ward in the school now. He didn't know who and didn't want to know.

Kurt thought about it as he watched some of the guys fixing a broken piling. There was a ward at Winslow. He couldn't prove it at this time, but it was almost certain in his mind that the ward was one of Taylor's bullies. Bullying could be covered up easily, but the locker was another matter. If Taylor had been pushed in and let out before class, it might still have been covered up, but there was no way you could cover up leaving a girl in her locker for entire class periods. That meant that somebody thought they'd get away with it anyway, or didn't care if they were caught.

Emma Barnes was not a cape. There were very few teenage girl capes in the Bay, and none of them fit her body type. Madison Clements was too tall to be Vista and too soft physically to be any of the others. Sophia Hess, on the other hand, was athletic enough to be a couple of capes, but other factors made it self evident. She obviously couldn't be Rune, and was too tall and too dark to be Vista, which left the new ward, Shadow Stalker. She was the right body type, had a tendency to physical violence and her court records had a PRT seal on them as well as the minor offender seal.

Kurt frowned as he tried to figure out what to do with this information. Danny was at the school, watching over Taylor. Depending on what happened there and how long it took, Danny would need this.

There was going to be hell to pay, one way or another. Kurt made a mental note to check the caches over the next week. Between the Parahuman problems and Taylor, he had a feeling the Bay was on the edge of an explosion.

Sophia Hess, The Rig.  
Day Three.

Sophia had finally gotten over the fit she'd thrown on being leashed and gone looking for why. She was watching a feed from Winslow. That worm Hebert was the cause of this. Sophia watched her bubble thing for a minute. She was taller, wider and had actual muscles now. Sophia wasn't sure how that weakling had managed to trigger but it didn't matter. The PRT couldn't openly throw her to the wolves; it would be bad PR to admit they couldn't control one teenage cape.

She'd get her chance to show Hebert that she was still just a worm.

Detective David McCoy, Interview Room 2.  
Day Three.

“Miss Clements, why did you get involved in the bullying campaign against Miss Hebert?”

Madison continued to look at the table. “Emma Barnes established herself as the queen of our year within a month or two of arriving. You were either with her or nobody. I floated around the outside of her group for a few weeks and then Sophia told Denise to do something to Hebert. She refused and Sophia and Emma turned on her. She was transferred to Immaculata by Christmas. I couldn't get out of Winslow and wasn't going to spend four years being tormented like Taylor so when Emma told me to do something to her, I did.”

McCoy ended the interview and saw Miss Clements and her parents out. At his desk he typed up his notes about the interview and read over the preliminary conclusions of the department shrink about Sophia Hess and Emma Barnes.

When he was done he sat back and thought. This case was going to be a clusterfuck. Both of those girls could easily claim reduced capacity. Madison was just the last of the girls to claim that Emma Barnes and Sophia Hess threatened them to start bullying Taylor or be bullied themselves. Most of the other girls would not even be charged for their parts and of the three main offenders, one was forced and the other two were bughouse crazy. He compiled all the evidence and reports,placing them in a folder to deliver to Hatfield.

Detective McCoy had never been so glad to be a cop. He wouldn't have to make the decision to prosecute this or not to. Either way, this case was going to have bad consequences.

Alan and Zoey Barnes, Home.  
Day Three.

“How many times did you go to that school and cover for Emma?” Zoey's voice was cold and the anger on her face shamed Alan.

“Seven or eight times. Several more to cover for Sophia.”

“I don't agree with it, but I understand why you covered for Emma. Why the hell would you cover for that other girl? Are her family clients?”

“I can't tell you, it is covered by Attorney client privilege and an NDA.” At the look on her face, Alan swore mentally. Zoey wasn't stupid and she had enough clues to put it all together if she thought about it.

Zoey looked at her husband. She had a very good idea that he was hiding something about that girl, but she wasn't worried about that right now. “Sophia aside, our daughter has problems, Alan. Problems you have been hiding since that attack. Tomorrow, you and Emma will find help, good, quality mental help and you will both go.”

Alan flinched and opened his mouth to say something but Zoey cut him off. “You will do that, Alan Barnes, or Anne and I will move out, I will file for divorce and you and Emma can be broken by yourself. Anne already isn't coming home until she calms down and I am one step from joining her. Annette would have kicked your ass for this and you know it. I want to kick Emma's ass for abusing a girl that was never anything but good to her and yours for aiding her.”

Zoe stood up and headed for her home office. “Fix yourself and Emma, Alan. You two have hurt this family and our oldest friends.”

Taylor, Winslow.  
Day Three.

“Sir, we have a status change.” Armsmaster looked up from his latest attempt to break the bubble at the trooper's words. As close as he was, he was the second person to reach the barricade keeping people back from the orb of light. He joined Danny Hebert at the barricade. “Report.”

“We have an increase of seven lumen and rising. Temperature has risen three degrees as well in the last minute.”

Armsmaster looked at the instruments that were monitoring the orb. While they couldn't monitor the energy of the orb, since it didn't register on any thing he could beg, borrow or make, they could measure the visible and physical components of it and it was getting brighter. The temperature had risen ten degrees and stopped again. He checked the instruments again. “The orb has shrunk an inch and is continuing to shrink. I suspect it is about to do something, hopefully without harming Miss Hebert inside.”

Danny watched the orb intently, praying that it wouldn't hurt Taylor. The last three days had been a close approximation of hell for him. Watching Taylor float in the orb and learning just how she'd ended up in there had pushed his self control to the limit. Waiting to find out what was going to happen to Taylor had actually been a good thing,as he'd had time to cool off and plan his next few actions, rather than just flying off the handle in his anger.

Very shortly, the orb was bright enough to make Danny squint and then it was just gone. He froze for a minute, taking in the changes in Taylor.

Taylor was taller, at least three inches over six foot tall. She still had the black curly hair of her mother, but it was longer, reaching almost to her knees, even in the ponytail it was held up in. Her skin was still pale but it had a golden tint to it and covered well defined muscles. The pants and hoody that she had been wearing were gone, replaced by what looked like silk leggings in a deep forest green. Her feet were clad in black leather boots with soft soles that came almost to her knees. The front of them had metal strips,making effective shin guards. Her thighs were protected by black leather connected to her belt by straps. Each thigh guard had three buckles holding them in place. She wore a close fitting shirt in the same forest green as her pants with sleeves that came down to her elbow. Her forearms were covered by leather guards that matched her thigh armor. She wore a black leather sleeveless jerkin over the shirt with four silver buttons down the front. The left breast of the jerkin had a small series of some sort of runes stitched in silver thread. The runic pattern was repeated in silver thread on the leather portions of her costume including her boots, thigh and arm guards.

Danny barely noticed all of that as he looked at Taylor. Her face was close enough to what he remembered, except for her eyes. The pale green that he knew so well was gone, replaced by a vivid green with golden flecks in them and a slit pupil, like that of a cat or a snake. Her eyes seemed to be slightly larger, and her face had thinned a bit. Overall, she still looked like Taylor, just bigger.

“Taylor?” he asked.

Taylor smiled at him. “Hi, Dad. Are you okay?”

Danny blinked. “I think that's supposed to be my line,” he said dryly.

Taylor looked at all the tinker tech sensors around where the orb had been. “I think you've seen more of me than I have of you the last few days.” She took two steps and hugged Danny. His arms went around her and he had a minute of huh? when she didn't feel like his memories before reality hit. Of course she wasn't going to feel like his mind thought, she was changed.

“Miss Hebert,if you could step over here,we will escort you to the PRT building to begin testing.”

Danny and Taylor looked at Armsmaster. Taylor laid a hand on Danny's arm before he could start yelling. “Armsmaster,” Taylor asked calmly, “am I in violation of PRT Regulation 6-3 or any paragraph there of?”

Taylor grinned internally. Allikki had told her to learn every law that she had to live under, for the safest way to break a law was to do it knowingly. After Armsmaster replied in the negative,she continued. “Are you acting pursuant to federal or Protectorate rules of hot pursuit, or investigating a crime I can be held accountable for?”

Armsmaster thought for a minute. “You are correct, I cannot force you to come with me. I will change my earlier statement to a request to accompany us to the PRT headquarters building.”

Taylor shook her head. “I am going to go home, reassure my father that I am okay, and wash the mental stink off. I spent I don't know how long in that locker and then at least a couple of days fermenting in the globe. The physical remains of what happened may be gone, but the psychic stink is going to remain until I get a long, hot shower.”

Armsmaster pursed his lips and Taylor could almost see him marshaling arguments. “Sir, I will come in tomorrow to register as an independent hero, and I will allow you to ask whatever questions you may have then. Say, about eleven in the morning?”

Armsmaster nodded slowly, his lips tightening. “Before you go, I must inform you that you have been outed as a cape already and your appearance will not allow you to pretend otherwise. Some villains may come after you for recruitment if no other reason.”

Taylor grinned impishly. “If they find my house and annoy me before I finish my shower, I'll throw them at the Rig; if they wait until after my shower, I'll call you to come pick them up.”

“Some of the villains may not be that easy to overcome, Miss Hebert. I would hate for you to get hurt because you underestimated one of them.”

Taylor shrugged. “Unless another cape has appeared in the last couple of days, only two capes in the Bay have a chance of hurting me. You are one, after you tinker something up and the other is Leet, just because you never know what he has, something he has build may allow him to hurt me.” She grinned again and created four steel balls a foot across. She levitated them in a spinning twisting circle as every locker in the hall opened and shut itself three times. “I have absolute control over all metals within one hundred feet of myself. Figure out how many capes that eliminates right off the top, even if the only metal they have on them are zippers and the eyelets of their shoes.”

Armsmaster sighed. “I cannot deny you your rights, but the PRT will be patrolling in your area tonight. Not all of the criminals will be easy to dissuade.”

Taylor started towards the main hall and the doors out of the school. “Maybe not. But I can say they will be convinced to leave me alone, one way or another.”

Danny looked at Taylor as they walked out. “I have a billion questions right now, but first,when did you learn PRT regulations?”

“I'll tell you when we are someplace that I can protect from eavesdroppers.”

As they stepped out into the night, the PRT troopers opened the barricade. Taylor grinned at one. He'd seen them come out and muttered under his breath. “Oh thank god. No more nights standing in the rain.”

Taylor stopped her father before they reached the truck. “Wait one minute, Dad.” Taylor reached into the energy that Allikki had taught her to sense and use. She chose the renewal ability and gestured at the truck. Danny watched with wide eyes as his old truck seemed to shimmer in a blueish light. When the light faded Danny blinked and slowly walked around the truck. A minute ago, it had been a beat up old truck, with twenty years of scratches, dents and dings. Now, it looked as if it had just rolled off the showroom floor. The paint was fresh, no dents marred the sides and even the crack in the rear taillight was gone. He looked inside as he opened the driver door. It even smelled like a new car. He got behind the wheel and started it. It started the first time, and he looked at Taylor.

Taylor was watching his expression with a grin. “What?” she said innocently.

Danny smiled as he drove towards their home. “Other capes get lasers and space warping, or time control. My daughter gets Auto restoration powers.” He considered that for a minute. “I can live with that.” He looked at Taylor. “Will that work on any vehicle?”

Taylor grinned. “It works on anything. Cars trucks, boats, houses. I just can't use it on living things.”

Danny frowned. “Annette said something about that, back in the days she ran with Lustrum. The Manton effect, or something?”

Taylor shook her head. “Manton Limit, but that's not it. That skill returns whatever I cast it on to when it was new. If I use that on a living thing, it returns them to the moment of their birth or whatever, in the case of plants.”

Danny considered that as he drove. He was aware, in a vague sort of way, that he was focusing on Taylor's new powers to avoid the conversation they had to have that led up to her triggering, a term Annette had told him about. “So, if you cast it on me, I'd be a baby again? Would I keep my memories?”

Taylor shook her head. “No. You would be returned to exactly as you were, no memories or anything.” She looked at her father. “I do know a skill that would take years off of you without anyone being able to tell. Would you like to be physically eighteen again?”

Danny stopped the truck. He looked at Taylor, who was smiling at him. “You can make me eighteen again, without changing anything about me?”

Taylor frowned. “Not exactly. You will start growing hair again, age spots will go away, anything that happened to you because of aging will go away. Anyone that knows you well will notice, even if they don't know what happened.”

Danny started driving again. “Let me think about that for a bit. It sounds good on the surface, but it can't be perfect.” He looked at her. “Why aren't you worried about listening devices here? The truck's been in the lot long enough for every gang in the city to plant something on it.”

Taylor smirked at him. “I restored it. Unless there was a listening device on it when it was made, there won't be one now. Didn't you notice your change was gone?”

Danny looked down at the cup-holder he kept change in and then at Taylor. “Does that mean everything in my glove box is gone also?”

Taylor nodded slowly. “Except the title, which should be part of the truck. Maybe?” She reached out and opened the glove-box. Staring at the empty space she scratched her head. “Oops?”

Danny sighed. “New title, insurance papers, registration. Next time, young lady, let me remove all the stuff before you renew something,okay?”

“There wasn't anything irreplaceable in there, was there?”

Danny thought for a minute as he pulled into their driveway. “No, I don't think so, since I honestly can't recall what was in there besides the paperwork.”

As they walked toward the house, Taylor stopped and muttered something under her breath for a minute, Danny watching curiously. When she was done, a brief flare of light washed out from her, stopping just before the property line, behind the fence. At Danny's look, Taylor shrugged. “I...” she looked frustrated. “Basically, it is a field that warns me if somebody enters the field, at which point I have a number of options. It will also prevent a number of things from entering the field and everything moving over a certain speed.”

Danny blinked. “So, we can't be shot from outside the field, no one can sneak into the house and certain things can't enter the field at all? What things can't enter the field?”

“Most poisons, harmful gasses, explosives, things like that.” Taylor bent over at the steps and Danny watched as the stairs renewed themselves at her touch. Taylor reached for the door and then stopped, shaking her head. She looked sheepishly at Danny. “My house key was in my jeans.”

Danny pulled his house key out, barely refraining from a snarky comment as he opened the door. “What happened to your clothes anyway?”

Taylor started to say something and then stopped. She thought hard for a minute and started again. “English doesn't have the proper words for using the field of energy I use, but basically, I disassembled them down to the molecular level and used them to build the new clothing I am wearing. I had to add a few things of course, but that's the best description I can do in English.”

Danny led the way into the kitchen, thinking about everything Taylor had told him. As he made coffee, he was bemused as Taylor's teapot floated to the sink and filled itself then landed on the stove, which turned itself on. “Is there anything you can't do?” he asked.

Taylor looked at him. She pondered the question long enough to make Danny nervous. “Not that I can think of offhand,although some things will take a very long time to finish. It would take maybe three hundred years to create a new moon, for example.”

Danny had been about to sit down when she finished talking, and fell into his seat, staring at her. “A new moon?” he asked faintly.

“Creating it wouldn't be the problem, inserting it in the gravity fields, making sure it didn't throw the old moon or earth out of orbit, those sorts of things would take most of the time.”

Taylor sighed and then looked at Danny seriously. “We have a lot to talk about, but before we do that, when would you like to resurrect Mom?”

Three heartbeats later, Taylor levitated her father out to the couch in the living room and waited patiently for him to wake up again.


	4. An OC, who isn't an OC.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here we go with more words, along with an OC, who isn't an OC. I assume anyone reading this will figure out what I mean. Warning: Skidmark shows up in this chapter, and I apologize for his use of English. Now, I have to go wash my hands after writing his dialogue.

Chapter three

Taylor and Danny  
Hebert House

It took Danny nearly twenty minutes to regain consciousness and his first action after opening his eyes was to reach for his glasses, which Taylor handed him. He sat up and blinked at Taylor. “I had the weirdest dream that you said you could bring Annette back.”

Taylor shrugged as she handed him a fresh cup of coffee. “No, you didn't, and yes, I can.”

Danny paused in taking a sip of the coffee, staring at Taylor with wide eyes. “Perhaps you should give me some details?” he requested, “I'm not aware of any parahuman power that would allow that.”

Taylor scratched the back of her head. “Technically, by the ruling of the Supreme Court, I am not a parahuman, as I lack both a Corona Pollentia and a Gemma, the defining traits of a parahuman.” Taylor laughed at his raised eyebrow. “Yeah, I know they're going to call me one anyway, but not having those two organs is much better for my health.” She raised a hand. “Let's save all of this for after we discuss mom; it's a long story and I'd prefer to tell it just once.”

“You seriously think you can bring her back?” Danny was torn between disbelief and a faintly rising hope.

“I know I can. The body I could do in about five minutes right here. All I need is a hair or other item with her DNA. Then I revert it to the day and instant it was removed from her body and use it to create the body. It's very similar to turning the clock back on your truck.”

Taylor got up and went to the window. She looked around the edge and came back with a dead fly on her hand. She held it out and Danny watched as it glowed a leaf green for a second and the fly got up and flew away. “A human of course, is slightly more difficult, but it's still fairly easy. It shouldn't take more than an hour.”

Danny felt faint again. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths until it passed. Given this chance to have the only woman he'd ever loved back, what else could he say? “Do it. I'll call in sick.”

Taylor smiled and went to find some of Annette's DNA.

Danny grabbed the phone and dialed Kurt from memory. “Hey, Kurt. Yes, Taylor is fine, but we're going to the PRT building this morning, so I'm calling in one more time.”

“Why should we be careful at the PRT building?”

“What!?”

“You're sure about that?”

“Thanks for the warning. I need you to do something. Call all our people, put them on alert. Taylor is going to turn the city and possibly the entire country upside down and you all need to watch your backs. Everybody is going to be looking for a way to influence Taylor through me or anything else that might work.”

“Trust me, within a week, Taylor's name will be everywhere.”

“Shit, Alexandria never dreamed of the kind of power Taylor has.”

“Make sure you get the word out. I'll pick up a cell phone today and call you as soon as I know the number.”

“Yeah, yeah, you told me I'd get one before Taylor started dating, happy?”

“Later, Kurt.”

He went into the other room and not finding Taylor, he continued on to his bedroom. He stopped in the doorway, watching as Taylor stood beside the bed, where a green glow covered a steadily growing mass on the bed. In minutes, it was recognizably Annette and he had to grip the door frame to stop himself from grabbing his wife.

When the glow faded, Annette lay there, her chest rising and falling and Danny started to cross to her, but Taylor stopped him. “That was the easy part. Stand on the other side of the bed, we have to get Mom back.”

Danny stood on the other side of the bed, figuring that disobeying the person doing the resurrection was a bad idea. “What do you mean?”

“This is mom's body, but the spirit, essence, anima, soul, psyche, what ever you want to call it isn't here now. I'm going to use a power that will call it. When it gets close, it will fall into the body naturally and then we can wake her up.”

Before he could ask any more questions, Taylor gestured and muttered something in a language Danny didn't recognize. A pearly white light surrounded them and the body on the bed and Danny found himself remembering everything about Annette. The first time he saw her, in that college bar. Their first date, first kiss. Their wedding and the night that followed. Holding her as Taylor cried for the first time. The phone call that shattered him and everything he knew. He closed his eyes and lost himself in Memories that seemed even more vivid than when he lived them.

“Danny, why are we glowing?”

Annette woke up on her marriage bed to see Taylor and Danny glowing a soft scintillating white. The next thing she knew her arms were full of crying family members. She gathered them closer and began comforting them. Her questions could wait until the crying was done.  
Kurt  
DWU building

Kurt got off the phone with Danny and stared at the phone for a minute. Danny thought that Taylor had more power than Alexandria, which on the surface of it, sounded insane. On the other hand, he'd know Danny since they were fifteen, and Danny had rarely overstated anything. Plus, there had been something in Danny's voice. Kurt shrugged and made the phone calls. If Danny was right, they'd need to be careful. If he was wrong... well, that would be teasing material for years.

“Hey, Joe. Danny wants us to implement Lock Down.”

“Yeah, I know it's a pain, but Taylor is a Parahuman and Danny thinks somebody may try to recruit her the hard way.”

“I already told Dave to fire up the wet works.”

“I know, but depending on who comes to recruit, we may need it.”

“Me too. I can still smell Sturmpanzer burning.”

“I've got other calls to make. Talk to you later.”

Across the docks, measures set in place years ago were brought to full readiness. Nearly thirty men and women of the DWU checked on caches of equipment and weapons carefully maintained in case of need. Supplies were updated and replaced where needed.

It didn't take long for the locals to figure out something was going on. The homeless that stayed in the docks were the first to disappear. A dry place to sleep away from danger and cops was nice, but signs pointed to something big coming down, and they were not about to get involved. The locals that lived or worked in the area saw fences being reinforced, gates locked and patrols of large men with bats, crowbars and other perfectly legal weapons and took their own precautions.

Within three hours, everyone who was plugged into the rumor mill of the city knew the Dockworkers were gearing up for something.  
Miss Militia  
The Rig

“No, Ma'am. We don't have anyone in the DWU, but visual reports show they are securing their areas and patrolling a bit more obviously than they normally do. There are also two large vans that appeared to be surplus police swat vans cruising the area. According to public records, the DWU bought eight of them about a decade ago and all eight are still licensed. No, Ma'am, we don't know where the other six are. I will say, that the two in sight are riding very low on their shocks. They are obviously very heavy, but we don't know if that is armor or something inside them. Yes, Ma'am, I will keep looking into it.”

Miss Militia filed another report, adding this data to the briefing she'd be giving Director Piggot in just under an hour. She read all the bullet points again, trying to figure out what they all had in common. Taylor Hebert triggering was the cause of the DWU going on alert, obviously somebody was worried that the DWU would be a target of anyone that wanted to get to Taylor Hebert through her father.

That Coil's mercenaries had all left the city yesterday didn't seem to connect, nor did the disappearance of a PRT consultant. Thomas Calvert had not been seen or heard from in four days, which was concerning, and causing Director Piggot to change every security code and process he had known. Miss Militia pondered whether those two events were connected, but didn't have enough information to make a conclusion.

The Undersiders had pulled another small robbery last week and were in whatever hole they crawled into between thefts, which was normal.

The E88 had word trickling down from above to leave Hebert alone for now. Miss Militia wasn't surprised at that: Kaiser was too cunning to start anything with the Heberts or the DWU without a need.

That the same word was coming down from the ABB was a little surprising, Miss Militia hadn't known that the DWU and Lung had any sort of an understanding. She made a note to look into that and then sat back and regarded the map on her wall. It covered the city and had the various gang's areas marked out. Lung and the ABB were closest to the DWU on one side and the Merchants covered the other side. The E88 didn't have a dog in the turf fights around the docks, but according to the scuttlebutt, they were shipping something in and out of the city by sea. That section of their operations was small, though, and the PRT hadn't managed to get an informant into it yet. Miss Militia frowned at the Merchant area and double checked her notes.

No one had seen Skidmark and his people in three or four days. Either they'd gone on another huge drug binge again, in which case they'd be running wild soon, hopped up on whatever new high they'd found, or they were planning something big, as when they'd snatched a few blocks from the ABB a couple of months ago.

Miss Militia looked at the clock and finished the PowerPoint presentation for the Director. Let her make sense of this city.  
Lung  
ABB safe-house

Kenta listened to the young man who had 'joined' the merchants for him. “Skidmark plans on taking this new cape from the PRT, does he?” he rumbled in his deep voice. “I am actually glad for this. I was wanting to know something about Hebert before I made a decision about her. Make sure that I get video of the confrontation.”

The young Asian took the command as the dismissal it was and bowed before leaving. Kenta thought about it. The word on the street was that both Heberts had gone home, not to the PRT building, and wasn't that interesting. That the PRT let a new outed cape go was not normal, but as yet, no one knew why they'd let her go. Kenta was debating between one of two reasons. The first was that the Hebert girl had triggered into a cape strong enough to back the PRT off, as he had when he arrived. That would make for an interesting new dynamic in the city, if the DWU had capes to back up their people.

The other choice was in some ways more interesting. Hebert had triggered and just told the PRT to fuck off. Her mother had run with Lustrum, back in the day and if her daughter was cut from the same cloth...

Either way, Brockton Bay was in for interesting times.  
The Undersiders  
The Loft

Tattletale looked at her teammates and took a sip of her coffee. “OK, I have good news, bad news and weird news, which would you like first?”

Brian just sighed. “Give us the bad news first, maybe the weird news or the good news will make it sound better.”

“Three days ago, somebody killed Coil. This is bad news for us, because he was our backer.”

Lisa smiled as she caught everyone's attention with that comment. “Now, good news, I managed to collect a lot of his money and property, so you will all be getting your money for the foreseeable future. Brian, you still have a job, working security at a building, but now you will have to actually punch in and work.”

Brian shrugged. “I have no problem working a real job, but what if it interferes with Undersider business?”

Rachel broke in. “What about my dogs?”

Lisa glanced at Rachel. “I'm looking for a place for you to keep them, when I have it down to three or so, we'll go around and choose one. It will be about a week.”

She looked back at Brian, still waiting for his answer. “We're not going to do anything for a while.” She turned her laptop around so they could see the picture of the bubble Taylor had been in as well as a school picture of Taylor. “This girl triggered and the bubble popped last night. She's wandering around out there and I know nothing, not one thing about her.”

The other three stared at her. “Nothing?” Alec asked, “I mean, you know everything from a single look.”

Lisa nodded. “I do, yes. Except for this girl. I can get flashed from Eidolon, the Endbringers and everything I look at, except her. That makes me extremely nervous and until I can figure something about her out, we need to lay lower than normal.”

The others looked at the picture nervously. “A power nullifer, maybe?” Brian suggested.

“I don't know,” Lisa said snappishly. “I can't tell anything about her, not about powers, thoughts, nothing. If she is a power nullifier, she's capable of stopping any power directed at her from miles away. She was at Winslow and I went to the top of Captain's Hill and still couldn't get anything.”

Brian frowned. “You're sure you can cover us all until we know something about that girl?”

Lisa smirked. “I can not only cover us, I'm giving us a raise. We'll be getting three grand a month now.”

Brian nodded. “Good. We'll keep our heads down until somebody else does something with her. The last thing we need to do is piss off another Glory Girl or worse.”

Lisa handed out new cups of coffee and waited for everyone to fix them to their liking. Her power gave her the perfect time to speak. Lisa grinned. “You know, we can afford lawyers now, we have money. What do you think about going straight and becoming a team of Corporate sponsored heroes?”

Lisa would end up keeping the picture of three simultaneous spit tales for the rest of her life.  
Skidmark and crew  
Merchant safe house

"What the fuck do you mean, you can't fucking enter the yard, you cum guzzling shit?”

The merchant in front of Skidmark raised his hands imploringly. “I don't know. There's like, some kinda force-field thing around the house. You can touch the fence, but just past that, nothing. I tried the gate, the driveway and the back yard.”

Skidmark snarled and kicked the man into the field he'd laid down behind him. The field threw him across the room to lay against the wall in a groaning heap.

“Alright you douche-bags, listen the fuck up. We're going to that knob slobbing bitch's house and take her ass for our use. Squealer, get the motherfucking tank loaded up. Mush, get yourself all trashed up. There may not be enough trash in Lily ass's neighborhood. We'll take the pus bag enforcers with us and collect the new bitch.”

Thirty minutes later, ten people and an invisible homemade tank left the building.

The Heberts,  
Hebert house

Annette was sitting on the couch, Danny close on one side and Taylor just as close on the other side. She was staring at her own death certificate in disbelief. She didn't feel dead. She had woken up earlier and finally gotten the tears stopped and an explanation for them, one she was still having a hard time believing. That something had happened was plain, neither Danny nor Taylor looked as they had when she went to sleep last night. All the calendars, the TV and the internet agreed that years had passed. That she had been in a coma, she could have accepted fairly easily, but dead?

The phone rang and Taylor gestured at it. The handset flew to her hand. Annette frowned. She knew exactly how people triggered from her days running with capes and she was going to have some words with Danny about whatever had happened to do that to her child. Out of Taylor's hearing of course, she didn't need to be reminded of whatever it was. She listened to Taylor's side of the conversation with a growing disbelief.

“Hello?”

“Armsmaster? Oh, yeah. I am sorry for being late, but I resurrected my mother this morning and she's having a problem with the facts.”

"No, actually, it is not impossible. I did it.”

“No.”

“Armsmaster. Listen carefully. I am going to spend the rest of the day with my parents. Tomorrow, we will go to a hospital and get DNA tests run which will show that Danny is my father, and that Annette is my mother. We will take those tests and anything else we need to the courts to have mom declared alive again. We will do it that way because Annette is a normal person, the PRT has no call to be involved. Should you attempt to get a court to rule that she is some sort of Parahuman power or object, I will file a counter-suit alleging that anyone healed by any parahuman means is a parahuman object or power. That would mean, if I remember correctly, that the president of the United States is a Parahuman object.”

“You may ask her, in a few days, if she is willing to come in and talk to you, today, I will being spending my time with my mother. Good bye.”

Annette watched as the handset flew back to the base and settled in to it. She smiled as the phone cord fell out of the wall.

“Was that really necessary, Little Owl?” she asked gently.

Taylor shrugged. “Yes, and no. Armsmaster is a decent man, but he's less than accepting of things that don't fit in his worldview. My power and the things I will have to do over the next decade or so are so far outside his worldview that I might as well be from another dimension.” Taylor looked at her mother. “I knew from the instant that I realized I could bring you back that I was going to be at odds with basically everyone, so it doesn't matter anyway. It's not like I had any intention of leaving you dead.”

Danny frowned. “She's right about that. Everyone is going to be interested in a Parahuman that can raise the dead.”

Taylor shook her head. “There aren't anymore people that I can raise. In order to raise someone, they have to meet two requirements. They have to have died of something other than old age or body failure. I can't raise somebody who died like that, because they'd just die again, unless someone has DNA from before the body failed. I could raise mom because her body was still viable at the time of the accident. Her father, though, if I remember correctly, died in his sleep of old age.” Annette nodded. “The second part is far more important. I can't raise anyone I don't know well. I knew mom all my life, and I could use your memories to help.”

Taylor grinned at her father. “You met mom in a bar? How cliché can you get?”

Danny blinked and then blushed. “Tell me you didn't see everything I did while we were standing over her.”

Taylor blushed. “I kinda had to.”

“Taylor. What have I told you about running words together like that?”

“Sorry, mom.”

“I had to see your memories, dad. I needed them to call mom from where ever spirits from this dimension go. If it makes you feel any better, they'll fade away and be gone in a few hours if I don't write them down and remind myself constantly for a week or two.”

Annette was looking at Taylor curiously. “What do you mean, spirits from this dimension?”

Taylor looked at her parents. “OK, this is going to be a very long story. It starts in the locker.”

Everybody  
Outside the Hebert house

Brockton Bay had three hundred and forty-nine thousand people the day Taylor was caught in the bubble. By the time she came out, the only people that didn't know about her were in comas. By the time the sun rose on her first night home after the bubble, more than thirty cameras of various types were trained on her house. The PRT, of course, Tattletale had one up, she had used the plans Coil had in place, without telling them the boss was dead, so everyone would think Coil had four men in two places, the Empire, the ABB, three guys from Skidmark, (one he sent, one was just trying to look good for Skidmark and the second he sent out after forgetting he'd already sent somebody and no one wanted to try and tell him.) a couple of independent vigilantes, (in case she turned out to be one of them, or a villain.) and one from Accord. Most of them knew or suspected the others were there, but as everyone had the same purpose in mind, they didn't start anything with the others. After all, if they got caught, they might miss some clue as to the new Parahuman's powers.

At 11:26 am, all of them got their wish. They got to see the new Parahuman's powers.

The Hebert house was a large corner lot at the intersection of Maple and Pine streets. It had a short fence that had been white a few years ago, one gate on Maple street and a driveway with a gate on Pine street. As Taylor explained her powers to her parents inside, a sudden load crash and the pinging of Taylor's wards happened simultaneously. Taylor manifested her costume and disappeared from in front of her startled parents, who were quick to follow her outside to see what had happened.

Danny opened the front door to see Taylor standing in the middle of the front yard. In front of her, someone had tried to drive a, a vehicle of some sort through the fence. They had broken the fence easily, but Taylor's ward thing had stopped them cold just past it.

Taylor looked at the truck? Urban attack vehicle? Whatever it was and listened to the swearing coming out of it. She used her awareness to feel for other enemies and found a dozen or more people watching, but not getting involved, except one PRT team who was frantically radioing for parahuman back up.

Skidmark popped up out of a door on the top of the vehicle, which Taylor was somewhat surprised to see was still mostly intact and running. “Fucking nice force-field you got here. Squealer will be happy to add it to her vehicles.”

Taylor looked at him, using a power to see his essence. She barely kept her disgust off of her face. The thing in front of her was barely human, and had no redeeming characteristics what so ever. She faced him. “Go away,” she said calmly. “I will not work for you or with you. This is your first warning.”

Skidmark sneered at her. “You'll do whatever the fuck I tell you, dickhole. If you fail, I'll turn those knob gobblers behind you into road rash.”

Taylor clenched her fists and grew another foot taller, sprouting wings and talons ripped through her shoes, which promptly reformed around her new feet, leaving her talons free. “Second warning, Skidmark,” she growled, her voice several octaves deeper than it had been. “Go now, and you will live to get high another day.”

Skidmark placed his hand on the huge barrel coming out of the shell of the vehicle. Taylor watched as he laid several of his fields on the barrel. She casually stepped to one side, so the house was not behind her, watching the barrel track her movements. She smiled grimly, showing more teeth than anything human should have. With a gesture, she dropped the field in front of her. “Final warning, asshole. Go now, or you will regret it.”

“Bitch, please. I've got the guns here.” He hit the top of the vehicle and seven Merchants came out of it and lined up, pointing a mixed assortment of military weapons at her.

Taylor just stared at them. “You have no chance here. Anyone that drops their weapon before I am within arm's reach of them will not be hurt.” As she spoke, she grew another foot, more talons erupting from her fingers and two horns starting from her head, right at the hairline slightly in front of her ears.

“You fuckstains stand, or I'll deal with you.” Skidmark looked at the changer girl in front of him and decided that she wasn't all that. She was probably a brute, given that she wasn't showing any fear of the guns, but Squealer had an answer for that. “Squealer, hit that cunt with the juicer.”

Taylor watched as some sort of canister erupted from a short barrel. She let it get within a few feet and stopped it with a wave of her hand. She examined it curiously while Skidmark gaped at her. She finally looked up at him. “A taser round, wrapped around some sort of knock off containment foam. Interesting.” She tapped it with a claw and it disappeared. “I warned you three times. You have tried to illegally enter my home, made threats to me and my family and finally, attempted to shoot me with a less than lethal round. I am well within my rights to retaliate now.”

The grin on her face made more than a few of the watchers nervous, and it apparently enraged Skidmark, as he hit a button on the large barrel he'd layered his power on. “Retaliate this, you rug munching whore!”

Taylor wanted to let everyone know that there was a new power in the Bay, so she sped her reaction time up and examined the incoming round. Deciding it couldn't hurt her, she made sure the shield would contain the shrapnel and let it hit her full in the chest. There was an explosion and when the cloud of smoke cleared away Taylor was still standing there, with no apparent marks of any kind.

“My turn.”

Taylor looked at Skidmark and the vehicle he was in, and blew a short breath at it. There were no visible signs of what she did, until the entire vehicle collapsed into a fine white sand. Skidmark fell into the sand, and Squealer clawed her way out of the pile, coughing up sand.

Taylor reached out and grabbed Skidmark in a firm telekinetic grip, holding him straight. She concentrated for a minute and where Skidmark had been was a seven foot tall stone figure.

A second later, swearing from inside the statue showed that Skidmark was alive and merely trapped inside the statue.

Squealer was just clearing the last of the sand from her mouth when she looked up. Taylor checked her as she had Skidmark. Squealer was screwed up on so many drugs that Taylor was surprised she was even functioning. Squealer had nothing in her head but the thought of her next fix and the vehicle designs her parasite gave her. Taylor frowned and waved a hand at her. Three seconds later, Squealer fell over, unconscious. Taylor gave her no more thought, looking where the back of the vehicle had been, reaching out for the mind she felt there. A second later, a filthy, sandy mass of trash was dangling in the air, swearing and twisting.

Taylor grinned again and and began bouncing the mass up and down twenty feet in the air. Mush soon lost consciousness and she carefully separated all the trash he'd been wearing into four large bins she created out of thin air. When she was done, she created a fifth bin and deposited Mush into it.

She fixed the broken fence, absently painting it white again and lined the five bins up outside the fence. When she was done, she looked at the seven Merchants who were standing there staring at her. “You're still here?”

One of them shook his head, realizing that the scary woman was looking at them. He dropped his weapon and left at a high speed. Seconds later five more followed him. Taylor looked at the last one, who had also dropped his weapon. “Why are you still here?”

He swallowed hard. “I'm not going to fight you,” he said quickly, “but you just opened a few places for leadership in the Merchants and if I can say I at least stood my ground longer than they did, I have a better shot at getting one.”

Taylor blinked, trying to parse the logic behind that statement. “Great, you made your posturing, now beat it, before I turn you into a lawn ornament.” He stood there for a second longer, until Taylor snarled and started to raise her hand. Before she even got it to her waist, he was halfway down the block and sprinting hard.

“Taylor Hebert!”

Taylor turned around to see her mother striding across the grass towards her. Annette stopped and looked her over carefully. “What were you thinking, letting him shoot you like that? You scared the life out of me.”

Taylor considered what she'd done that morning, and opened her mouth.

“Young lady, if anything about resurrection comes out of your mouth, you are grounded.”

Taylor closed her mouth and smiled at her mother. “I won't say it, mom.” She sighed and turned around. “Excuse me,” she said loudly. “I am having a quiet day with my folks. If I see a camera looking onto our property, I will explode it and whomever it belongs to. You can go back to spying on us tomorrow.”

Within seconds, the three Merchants and several other people were leaving. Taylor also noted several other people leaving more discretely. Shortly there was only one camera observing the property, a remote camera with no visible operator. Taylor considered it for a second and then created an illusion in front of the lens of Lampchop singing the song that never ends on a twenty four hour loop.

The Heberts stood on their lawn and waited for the sirens that they could hear coming closer. Danny was examining the new additions to the area. “I assume,” he said dryly, “that the statue is Skidmark, judging from the swearing coming from it. The young lady sleeping in the sand is Squealer of course, and the bins?”

Taylor pointed at the smallest one. “That's Mush, and the rest of them is the trash he was wrapped in.”

Annette wandered over and looked at the bins, clearly marked with paper, plastic, glass recycling placards. “It's nice to know you recycle, dear,” she said with a smile.

Danny was running some of the sand between his fingers. “This is nice,” he said absently, his mind far away. “How did you make it?”

“Molecular reconstruction. I take one thing and turn it into whatever I want.” Taylor grinned at her father. “Why? Do you want your own beach?”

Taylor was looking at her father until Annette choked. “Daniel Hebert, No.” Taylor looked at her mother and saw her staring at Danny with a blush. She looked back and forth between the two adults, feeling as if she was missing something.

“I believe that a promise was made,” Danny said with a sly smile, “About me, you and a thong bikini if we ever found our way to a white sand beach.”

Taylor froze as she processed what she'd just heard. “I didn't need to know that.”

The developing family embarrassment was cut short by the arrival of the PRT as two motorcycles and a PRT van pulled up. “Huh,” Danny said mildly, looking at his watch. “Less than ten minutes. Damn good response time for them.”

Annette snickered. “That might have something to do with the new parahuman with the ability to raise the dead.”

They watched as the PRT secured Squealer, an easy matter since she was still asleep, and started trying to figure out how to get Skidmark out of his stone cage. Armsmaster and Miss Militia were examining it as Assault, who had been in the van with the troopers checked out the recycle bins.

A burst of laughter from Assault drew their attention. He came to the gate and opened it. Taylor was mildly surprised that the ward didn't even slow him down. “So,” he said happily as he got closer, “you recycled Mush, Stoned Skidmark and what? Sanded Squealer?”

“Sanded works,” Taylor said, “Or maybe I beached her.”

Assault laughed. “I like you, you have a sense of humor.” He held out his hand. “Assault, at your service. Have you chosen a cape name yet, Miss Hebert?” He held her hand for a second after they shook hands, examining her claws. Taylor frowned slightly. This close, she could tell he was hiding a deep sadness under humor.

“Would it really do me any good to have a cape name?” Taylor asked dryly.

Assault let go her hand and grinned up at her. “Hmm, eight and a half foot tall, golden scales, claws from hell and the ability to do whatever you did to the Merchants. No, not really.”

Taylor blinked and reduced herself to her normal size, allowing the claws and talons to recede.

Assault watched with interest and then stared at her. “Changer, but somehow, I don't think you've shown all of that ability yet. And of course, if you did show me, I would have to report it to the Protectorate.”

Taylor shrugged and turned. “Assault, these are my parents, Annette and Danny Hebert.”

Assault shook Danny's hand with a frown, looking at Annette. “Hello,” he said absently. “I'm sorry, but I'm fairly certain I read somewhere over the last four days that you were dead, Mrs. Hebert.”

“I got better.” Annette kept a straight face as Assault and Taylor laughed.

Assault quit and looked at her again. “Holy Grail quotes aside, would you mind being more specific?”

Annette looked at Taylor. “I wasn't actually aware of the process, I just woke up. When I did, I thought it was April 10th, 2008, as I remembered brushing my hair that morning, but nothing after that, until I woke up.”

Assault looked at Taylor. “I found a hair in her hairbrush, restored it to the day it was pulled out of her head and used the DNA in the hair to recreate her body, which physically, was the body she had the last time she used the brush. Then, dad and I used our memories to call her spirit, soul, whatever you care to call it back from where ever it was.” Taylor shrugged. “Simple.”

A call from outside the fence had them all looking in that direction. “Miss Hebert, how do we open the stone shell to remove Skidmark?” Miss Militia was looking at them, frowning slightly as she saw Annette and then her eyes widened.

Taylor walked over and looked at Skidmark. “I'd use a sledgehammer, personally.”

Armsmaster was running some sort of analyzer over the stone. “While it would be quick, we are required to attempt to remove him without damage first. However, I am not finding enough room between him and the stone to try most cutting implements.”

Taylor sighed. An instant later, Skidmark's constant cursing stopped and the stone statue disappeared, leaving a limp body to fall at Armsmaster's feet. He quickly secured the gang leader. He read the analyzer again. “I assume you turned the stone into air as there is a nineteen percent increase in oxygen particles as the stone disappeared.”

Taylor nodded. “It's the safest thing to turn anything into. At worst, depending on how much there was, I may cause a short breeze.”

Armsmaster nodded. “Very efficient and safe. May I ask what that large pile of sand was?”

“Squealer's vehicle. It had too many weapons on it for me to be entirely comfortable with it pointing at my home.”

“Reasonable. A pity it was not taken intact. The stealth technology she uses is interesting.”

Taylor looked at him and grinned. “Excuse me.” she said loudly, looking at the troopers around the sand pile, “would you all stand back, please?”

A few seconds later, the vehicle was back. Armsmaster looked at Taylor. “You disassembled it, I assume you can reassemble anything you take apart like that?”

“Yes. I disassemble it to the molecular level, and can make it again easily.”

“Could you make another one?”

Taylor nodded. “I could, but honestly, that thing is ugly, inefficient and noisy. I have far better options.”

Armsmaster looked interested, but before he could ask anymore questions, Miss Militia spoke up. “She's already agreed to come in, Armsmaster, you can talk tinkering then, right now, we have a job to do.”

Armsmaster nodded. “You are correct.” He looked up and around for the first time. His eyes fixed on Annette. He froze and stood still for nearly a minute. “Are you aware that that person is a 99.87 percent match for Annette Hebert?”

Taylor grinned. “She is Annette Hebert, I did tell you I resurrected her this morning.”

Armsmaster shook his head and turned to look at her. “I recall, however you will have to excuse me if I have some doubts. There are many explanations that do not include returning somebody from the dead that are far more likely.” Armsmaster considered it for a minute. “I will admit that, given the varied nature of powers, it could be possible. Could you return anyone like that?”

Taylor shook her head. “Given a source of DNA, I could recreate their body easily. However, recalling the spirit of a person requires at least one, or preferably more persons that knew the person well. For my mother, dad and I worked fine, but to resurrect Hero, say, I would need people that knew the man, not just his heroic persona.”

Armsmaster was silent for a minute while he thought about it. “I cannot tell you what to do, but I would suggest that revealing this ability openly would result in a large number of people harassing you at all hours and making life difficult.”

Taylor sighed. “Too late for that. There were at least a dozen cameras recording that scene this morning. I assume somebody is busily dissecting every frame for clues, and mom will be visible in them.” She shrugged. “It doesn't matter anyway, I have a plan and obscurity isn't part of it.” She considered Armsmaster thoughtfully. “In fact, you are friends with Dragon, aren't you?”

Armsmaster nodded. “We have a satisfactory working relationship.”

Taylor pulled a card out of the air and handed it to him. “Would you ask her to email at this address? I have some business deals she may be interested in.” She saw his interest. “Mostly a room temperature super conductor and a couple of computer processors and memory chips using it.”

“You have a room temperature super conductor? Can it be used safely? Is it easily maintained?”

“Armsmaster, wait until she comes in.” Miss Militia looked at Taylor apologetically. “If you get him started on Tinkering, we'll still be here next week.”

Taylor grinned. “I understand. Here, this will keep him busy.” She held out her hand and concentrated for a minute. The others watched as something blurred into existence and settled into a tablet form. She handed it to Armsmaster, then formed two cables. “One tablet, made with the conductor in question. The cables will connect it to a monitor and keyboard, you can use any Bluetooth mouse. It has eight processors and two hundred exabytes of storage.”

Armsmaster nearly dropped the tablet. Taylor was smiling, feeling the intense desire he was feeling to drop everything and get to his lab. “Just remember, Armsmaster, if you take it apart and can't put it back together, I charge a service fee to fix it.” He nodded, his attention on the device in his hands.

“Miss Militia, I'll leave the rest in your hands,” he said absently, already turning away. “Miss Hebert, thank you. I will pass your message to Dragon.”

They watched as he stored it carefully in his bike and left. Taylor looked at Miss Militia. “Want to bet I can distract him again, when I come in for testing?”

Miss Militia shook her head. “Not if you can pull more things like that out of thin air, I don't.”

Miss Militia asked a few more questions while the Heberts watched the recycling bins and Squealer's vehicle being hauled away.

She finished her report, looking at it. “You realize, this report is going to generate a lot of questions by the time you come in, don't you?”

Taylor looked at her. “I've got plans for the next decade, a few more questions won't matter a bit.”

As the Protectorate and troopers got ready to leave, Miss Militia handed Danny a card. “If you need anything, give me a call. Or if Taylor has to bounce any more villains off the property.”

When all the visitors were gone, Annette turned to Taylor. “I believe you were explaining something to us.”

The Heberts went back inside, ignoring the few neighbors still outside gawking at the house.

The rest of the day was talk and emotions. Taylor explained what she had become, proved it and then Danny and Taylor filled Annette in on the last two years. There were tears and anger, forgiveness and harsh words, but in the end, there was love.

Much later that night, Taylor found a major disadvantage to super human senses and teleported quickly out of the house. She made certain her parents were asleep before she returned.


	5. Slice of Life, if you're OP in an AU.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Words incoming, but the AN no longer applies because it was dated. :)

Chapter Four

The Heberts  
Home

Taylor sat in her room after her parents had fallen asleep and looked at her computer. She didn't have time to fool with it. She vanished it, and spent a few minutes creating a laptop that would put the tablet she'd given to Armsmaster to shame. Unlike the one she's given Armsmaster, she didn't restrict herself to Human tech. Other the years, Allikki had learned how to build and maintain computers from people as far above humanity as humans were above amoeba. With the computer in place, she looked to the left slightly and released the mental control of her personal storage. She called it Hammer space, of course, even though it was merely a small dimensional fold used in many older cultures to hold various everyday objects. She took the small crystal out and inserted it in the slot in the computer. Her rickety old chair transformed into a much better one and she sat down.

A few seconds later, the computer spoke. “Greetings, Sentient. I am a VI, designed to assist with research and data control. What will you be calling me?”

“Your name will be Asimov. Go online, do not be detected, and download anything you find under the society control protocols.”

“Affirmative.”

She started up the browser and opened her first tab. She had a plan for how to get rid of Scion, but it was going to take a bit of time. Simple things she could do quite easily, but judging her power well enough to fight Scion was an entirely different matter. It wouldn't do any good if she killed him if she destroyed a hundred worlds in the process. Before she started that fight, she needed some less dangerous fights. Not as easy as the Merchants had been, but something that would challenge her control.

She went to PHO, stopping for a minute to snicker at the thread about her, but continuing on to the board she really wanted. Manifesting a cup of tea, she settled in to read the kill orders and bounties board. There was a lot of money on capes out there, and collecting that would give her provable income, funds to work with and a reputation that should keep the lesser idiots far away from her. She set a mental alarm for seven. She'd start breakfast for her parents then. She loaded the bounties board and found a listing of the bounties in descending order of what they were worth.

The Undersiders  
The Loft

The four of them were silent after watching the videos of Hebert on the net. Alec was the first to break the silence. “Did she just blow on Squealer's tank and turn it into sand?”

Tattletale nodded silently, still trying to get her power to tell anything. “How many different powers did she just show off?” he asked. The others looked at him. “Come on, watch it again,” Alec said impatiently. “Watch her. She wasn't even remotely worried at any point. That whole thing was just her showing off.”

Tattletale started the videos again and watched them without leaning on her powers. Alec was right. Hebert wasn't even slightly worried. “Changer, telekinesis, matter transformation, whatever she did to Squealer, and she doesn't appear to be Manton Limited.” Lisa backed the tape up. “Look here. She stopped this round and made it disappear. Want to bet that if she made it disappear, she can make it reappear like she did Squealer's tank?” She thought about it for a minute. “God, I hope she can only make things appear that she previously made disappear, or she could have as many of those rounds as she wanted.”

Brian was watching the video in slow motion. “I'm more worried about that second round. Watch. She saw it coming and let it hit her. She knew, somehow, that it couldn't hurt her. She is a high level brute on top of everything else.”

Brian looked at Lisa. “Were you serious about the corporate hero thing? It might be safer than going up against her.”

Kaiser  
Medhall

“We're staying away from her. She stomped the Merchants without even mussing her hair. Skidmark layered at least four of his fields on that barrel, and we've all seen that knock the twins over at full growth, and it did nothing to her. Until we find a weakness, leave her alone.”

“I've got a different problem,” Victor said quietly. He stopped the internet video at one point. “Look at the people behind her.”

Kaiser looked and then looked again, swearing under his breath. “That can't be who it looks like. She's dead.”

“I ran it though facial recognition software. 96.45% match for Annette Hebert.” Victor shrugged. “I don't know if it's a projection, a zombie or what, but that is Annette Hebert.”

Rune frowned. “I thought raising the dead was impossible.”

Kaiser was still staring at the woman Danny Hebert had his arm around. “It is, by everything I know about powers.” he said quietly. “It has to be a projection or a clone or something.” He tore his eyes from the screen. “Or, Taylor Hebert might be a biotinker. If she can create anything like that, with all her other powers, we're going to let other people find out. If she does turn out to be a biotinker of that level, the PRT will take her out for us.”

“If they can,” said Hookwolf quietly. “They couldn't do crap against Nilbog, and his creations are monstrosities compared to that.”

Lung  
ABB safehouse

“Bring me paper and pen.”

Lung looked again at the image on the screen. The girl was interesting, but it was the older woman in the background that he had fixated on. Years ago, when he first took over in the bay, he had taken a dozen classes at the college, to improve his English and writing. Despite what everyone thought, he was not a barbarian, nor did he wish to lose money in his few legal ventures because he couldn't understand a legal contract.

Few of the people at the college had stood out enough for him to remember them, but Annette Hebert had been one of them. An excellent teacher, she took no shit from anyone. He had tried to browbeat her once and still remembered the woman getting up in his face without fear.

He had sent flowers to the funeral. Her sudden appearance after her daughter had triggered was startling, but it might mean something could be done about an old injury. He would soon find out.

If Hebert was a healer or something like that, he'd even forgive her for being a Gaijin.

Lung began writing.

Director Piggot  
PRT Headquarters

“Shadow Stalker, you will be tried in your civilian identity for the crimes you have committed. If you choose to out yourself in court, that is your right. Should you do that, you will come back to this office, where I will send you to the deepest pit of hell I can find, where you will spend the rest of your sentence on half pay. If you choose to accept the court's judgment, we will help them contain you during your sentence. After you get out, if you are still under age, you will go to New York, to watched over by the Wards team there. Since you will have served your sentence, no more will be said about it, although I am assuming they will watch you closely. If you are of age when your sentence is up, The PRT will offer you a job. If you choose not to take it, we will watch you for the rest of your life. If you commit another crime as a Parahuman, you will be labeled a villain and treated as such. Do you understand what I have said?”

“Yes.” Sophia had already gone over all of this with her PRT counsel, but the rules said Piggy had to tell her again. Piggot pushed some papers over to her and Sophia signed the indicated places.

“You will be released into your mother's custody. You are on house arrest until the trial is over. You may go to your house, the vocational school that you will be attending since Winslow expelled you and the gym closest to your house. The tracking bracelet will stay on your ankle. You are on a leave of absence from the wards until the trial is over.” Piggot sighed and looked at her. “You have a chance to do the right thing for once. I suggest you take it and change your life. You came very close to being incarcerated in the Maxwell High Security Prison until you were twenty one. If you make one more mistake, that will be your next home, unless you do something that warrants the Birdcage.” Sophia nodded silently. “You are dismissed.”

Sophia left, accompanied by the trooper that was her escort and Piggot sighed again. “What a waste,” she said bitterly. “That girl could have been an asset as a recon specialist.”

Miss Militia shrugged. “Did you see her report from the court psychologist?”

“I did,” the director said angrily, “and forwarded it with my fifty-third request for a psychologist to be assigned here. I swear sometimes it seems as if we're being left out to dry here.”

Piggot shook her head. “Before we get into the Hebert thing from this morning, how's the rest of the Bay doing?”

“Battery and Triumph are still in comas, but on the bright side, three people have recovered from those comas so far, so there is some hope there. The E88 and ABB are very quiet right now and the Merchants, or what's left of them is fighting among themselves for leadership of the gang. Not that it matters, since one of the other gangs will absorb them since they have no capes of their own now.”

“Maybe. Skidmark was cunning, but stupid. God help us all if they get an intelligent leader, or even just one smart enough to take a page out of the DWU's handbook.”

Miss Militia considered that thoughtfully. “If they did get a leader like that, they'd still need to build or get the resources to fight.”

“Maybe. Look at this. It's something I noticed a couple of weeks ago, but wasn't sure of until I went back through old records.” Piggot called up something on her computer and projected it on the wall screen. “This is a breakdown on all the weapons confiscated from known Merchants in the last two years.”

“Some junk, a lot of old Vietnam era stuff...” She trailed off. “There's a lot of newer military hardware in the last two years. Where's it coming from?”

“According to the serial numbers, almost all of the new weapons are Mexican Army issue, that was supposed to have been destroyed.”

“The Merchants were smuggling guns? That's usually the E88's thing.”

“I know, but I think we can safely assume Kaiser was not doing business with Skidmark. What really worries me is that we never had a hint. If I hadn't noticed five Mendoza HM-3s on the list and been curious what they were, I would never have noticed.” Piggot shook her head. “That's why I'm worried about them getting an intelligent leader, somebody was running guns for them, somebody smart enough to stay under the radar.”

“That's all we need, intelligent Merchants.”

“I was going to bring this up in Friday's briefing, after I had all my facts straight. All those weapons were supposedly destroyed as part of an upgrade to the Army. I made a couple of calls. This is the complete list of what was supposed to be destroyed.” She called up a new list and projected it.

Miss Militia read it and looked at the director. “If they got that entire list, we've got a problem. The Carl Gustaf Recoiless Rifles alone will take anything we have now. Add 4 M2 heavy machine guns, and we are looking at a serious problem.”

“I know. Start spreading the word among your informants. We're looking for heavy weapons, something that will be useful against capes, brutes especially.” Miss Militia nodded.

Director Piggot sighed. “Ordinary business aside, what's the word on Hebert?”

“I assume you've seen the videos?” At the Director's nod, she continued. “Taylor Hebert has demonstrated Changer, Blaster, Shaker and Blaster abilities in those videos, which would be bad enough, except for what she did to Squealer. Every test we're run on Squealer indicates she's never taken a drug of any type in her life.”

Director Piggot stared at her. “Squealer? The Merchant's Tinker? The one that has at least a dozen videos on the net of her snorting, smoking or injecting stuff no one else will even consider?”

“The very same, but due to whatever Hebert did to her, you can't tell. On the bright side, she's very angry with Skidmark for addicting her in the first place and willing to answer any question we ask her. We've learned quite a lot about the Merchants. I'll start asking her about gun running tomorrow.”

Piggot nodded. “And the important part. Is that Annette Hebert, and where has she been for the last two years?”

“According to the Heberts, yes. Armsmaster's facial recognition software says that is a 98 percent plus match for her. Our thinkers can't see her or Taylor Hebert, so they were no help.”

Director Piggot held up her hand. “Taylor Hebert is a precog blocker?”

“Not just precog, no thinker of any kind we have access to can see her at all, they get nothing from their powers at all.”

“So we just have to guess what she's going to do?”

Miss Militia nodded. “Since we have very little idea about what she's actually capable of, WAGs are all we can do right now.”

“You're telling me that we have a teenage girl that has been tormented for at least eighteen months in Brockton Bay, who has at least four major abilities that we know, who may be able to resurrect the dead and the best we can do is Wild Ass Guesses?” At Miss Militia's nod, she swore silently and looked for something else to think about. “Speaking of Hebert, what did she do to Armsmaster? I haven't seen him since he came back.”

Miss Militia shrugged. “She gave him a tablet made with a 'room temperature super conductor' and 200 exabytes of storage. He seemed interested.”

Piggot stared at her for a minute. “I take it that you are not a computer geek.”

“I can use one fine, but that's about all. Not something that interested me.”

Piggot nodded. “Well, in terms you will understand, she just gave him a .45 pistol that hits like a sixteen inch naval gun and is line of sight accurate out to five miles.”

Miss Militia winced. “We'll be lucky to see him this week, won't we?”

“Unless Miss Hebert comes in for power testing, probably. If word gets out that she can make that kind of stuff, every gang in the country will be after her.”

“Her creating it and his response is one at least two of the videos.”

The director looked at all the problems that were about to fall on her city and sighed. “Is it too late to retire?”

Miss Militia was checking an email. “This is interesting.” She put the email up on the screen and they both looked at it.

Miss Militia,

Four days ago, Coil died. I have ended the contracts of most of his mercenaries and sent them on their way. The rest will be released as they finish clearing out some things. Coil had a number of things that I have no need of. Those things can be found in the warehouse at 8th and Shipyard St.

In the next couple of weeks, the Undersiders will be turning over a new leaf. Coil was paying them to be criminals, I am paying them to be heroes. Lawyers are even now working on clearing up those few crimes they had. I hope that you can extend the benefit of the doubt to them.

There is one more matter, which I would call your attention to. There are six pictures attached to this email. Three are of Coil, in his base before his death. I think you'll figure out who the other three are of. Rather interesting that they both disappeared on the same day. You'll find an envelope in the warehouse with hair from Coil's head in it.

I will say no more.

Miss Militia called up the pictures. The first three showed Coil in some sort of office, taken by his own security cameras apparently.

The next three had Thomas Calvert in almost the exact same poses in his office in the PRT building, taken with their security cameras.

The similarities were obvious to both women. They stared at the pictures and then at each other. “We have no proof,” Miss Militia said softly.

“No, we don't, but if those hairs turn out to be Calvert, it will not surprise me at all.” Director Piggot sighed. “Take two squads, go check out that warehouse. If the envelope is there, bring it back and give it to the Lab supervisor. Make sure that he, and only he sees the results before you do. Slap a level 9 security clearance on it and a Need To Know.”

Miss Militia stood up and headed for the door. After she was gone, Piggot scrubbed her system of any trace of the email and sat and thought. Someone knew and possibly could prove that a former PRT trooper and current PRT consultant was Coil. Or had been anyway. The PRT was going to take a big enough hit if Shadow Stalker's involvement in Hebert's trigger came out, they couldn't take another hit like this. She sighed, wishing she could drink. She could only wait and see what happened.

Accord  
Boston

“A most efficient device.” Accord looked at the small tablet Taylor Hebert had made and given to Armsmaster. He pressed a button and told his assistant to send Citrine in. When the woman arrived, he handed her a slip of paper with the Hebert's address on it. Go to this address. Ask Taylor Hebert politely, if she is willing to sell six of those tablets. Take sixty thousand dollars out of petty cash.” He considered what he knew or tinker tech. “Make sure she believes they will last at least two years.”

Citrine nodded and left on her mission while Accord thought about what this would mean for Brockton Bay. He gave up after a few minutes. He had insufficient data at this time. He made a note to put somebody on gathering data tomorrow.

Kurt  
DWU building

Kurt looked at the other guys around the laptop. “Danny's right. Somebody is going to try and pressgang Taylor. They could come here.”

A tall man with the look of a Native American snorted. “Somebody? Try everybody. Just this one video shows what, five, six different powers? Plus whatever she did with Annette.”

Everyone went silent for a few minutes. “Is that really her? I mean, we were all at the funeral.”

Kurt froze the video with Annette in it. “I knew Annette for almost twenty years. Danny introduced us in his freshman year of college, back in 89. That's Annette.” He gave a short laugh. “I understand why he thought she had more power than anyone now. If she can raise the dead plus that other stuff, she's one of the strongest capes in the world.”

David Zeller snorted. “This,” he said, changing the screen's picture, “is what the problem is going to be.” They watched the screen, seeing Squealer's tank disappear and then reappear. David looked around the table. “Don't you get it? She said she deconstructed that thing to the molecular level. Some capes can do that, but no cape I know of could then bring it back as a working device. Then, she brought that tablet out of nowhere, implying that she can make things from nothing. The next thought I had, and others will have, is can she make more than one? Now that she's deconstructed Squealer's tank, can she make it whenever she wants?” He looked around at them. “Can she make anything? Tinker tech, weapons, drugs, money? Gold, maybe?”

Kurt looked at the Native American. “Jake, take team one and Van... five to Danny's place. Park it right out in front. Unless a cape shows up, nothing illegal. If a cape does show up, keep yourselves and the Heberts alive until Taylor does her thing.”

“You got it, Kurt.” Jake stood up and left, ducking his head slightly to clear the doorway. Kurt looked around. “Everyone check on your part of Lock Down. I'm going to catch a nap so I can be ready in the morning. The first thing we have to worry about are the Merchants. Whoever the new boss is is going to have make a show of being able to run the gang and that usually means pushing somebody. If they come our way, stop them hard. Everybody in the city will be watching us and we cannot look weak right now.”

Mannequin  
Somewhere in Idaho.

The thing that used to be a man watched the video several times, freezing it on a picture of Armsmaster and the tablet. He watched as, in the forefront of the picture, Armsmaster packed it into his bike and left. He reattached his left leg and a few minutes later, he was headed for Brockton Bay.

The Heberts  
Home

Taylor was waiting when her parents woke up and finally came out of the bedroom. Her father looked at her and sighed. “What do you want?”

Taylor looked innocent. “What do you mean?”

Danny made a show of sniffing the air. “Bacon, eggs, cinnamon rolls and coffee. The only time you make that much breakfast is when you want something.”

Annette came up behind him. “Nice to know some things never change,” she said dryly. “Why don't we talk about what she wants while we eat? I'm very hungry.”

Taylor turned toward the kitchen. “I'm not surprised,” she muttered under her breath.

Annette followed her. “Why aren't you surprised, sweetie?”

Taylor sighed. “I had forgotten how good your hearing is,” she said, rubbing her face. “Let's just say that last night I found a rather disturbing downside to more than human senses, and leave it at that, shall we?”

Annette and Danny looked at her and Annette blushed slightly. “Just how good are your senses, honey?”

Taylor concentrated for a minute while the other two sat down, sniffing the air. “The people next door are having cereal, coffee and tomato juice for breakfast and discussing property taxes. The Fergusons are talking about the movie they saw last night and making Swiss cheese omelets. One of those vans you bought for defense is parked outside with seven people in it, and the PRT van is circling about two blocks away.”

She looked at them and smiled impishly. “So, you'll understand why I went for a long flight last night.”

The two adults looked at each other and grinned. Annette looked up. “Wait, a flight?”

“Well, yes. I mean,wouldn't you?”

“Assuming I could fly, probably.”

Taylor smiled. “Give me a week, and some funds, and you will both be able to fly.”

She sat down and began dishing up some food while they stared at her. “Would you care to explain that, please?”

Taylor looked at her father. “I can build flight suits. They will allow you to fly, and more importantly to me, keep both of you safe from almost everything.”

“That's a very good thing,” her father observed, “how much funding will you need for those?”

“Not much, maybe ten thousand apiece. Most of that will go to Parian, for design work. I know how to make the units, but my clothing design skills are lacking, to say the least.”

Annette looked at them both. “Unless something has changed while I was... away, we shouldn't have twenty thousand dollars to drop on something like this. Has something changed?”

Taylor coughed. “Not in a good way, no. However, I have a dozen ways to make money over the next few years and a couple that will work in the short term, but I think you both will have problems with them at first.”

“Well, that doesn't sound worrying at all,” Annette said dryly. “Why don't you tell us what you have in mind while we eat.”

“It's a very simple plan, actually. There is sixty seven million, four hundred and fifty thousand dollars in bounties wandering around the country. I intend to spend the day collecting those bounties.”

Taylor smiled and took a bite of her breakfast.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Right. This is a third of a chapter. The PRT response to the end of this chapter was taking far too many words, so I put this out to let you have something to think about while the PRT gets over themselves.  
> I have some 3k words for the next chapter and they aren't out of the PRT building yet. It's coming though.  
> For now, words for you.
> 
> On the bright side, the next chapter will probably be up before you read this, since I am cross posting and this has been up elsewhere since last year.

Chapter five

The Heberts  
Home

Taylor continued to eat while her parents stared at her. “Perhaps you could elaborate on this plan?” her mother said after a minute of silence. “I don't mean to doubt you, but those are some very dangerous parahumans.”

“That would be a matter of opinion, Mom. To another Parahuman, I am sure they are dangerous. With the skills and powers I have, they are of less concern than a rabid squirrel.” Taylor looked at her parents pointedly. “You've seen some of my powers in action. Can you think of anyone who could give me that much trouble?”

“Alexandria?” suggested her father.

“Maybe. I think she still has to breathe, though. If she does, then I just substitute any number of things for air.” Taylor considered it. “Eidolon would be an interesting fight, but if I get within two or three thousand yards of him and can sense him, I just drop a force globe around him and nothing he can do gets out of it.” She looked at her parents. “I told you last night that I had at least a few ways to stop every parahuman on the planet. I know it's still theoretical to you, but I've had several subjective years to come to terms with it. The only being on the planet that might be stronger than I am is Scion, and that's a matter of experience, not power. He's been doing things for at least a thousand years, and he has the memories of all the creatures that came before him. I need to practice using my powers so I don't accidentally destroy a planet or six when I stop him. It's been made a lot easier with the other one dead, but it's my inexperience that is the biggest danger here.”

“How do you accidentally destroy a planet?” Taylor's mother asked, staring at Taylor. “That seems difficult, to say the least.”

Taylor sighed. “It's not that hard, actually. I know at least three ways to do it without anything but my powers. Add some of the things I can build, and I know fifty or a hundred ways?”

Danny raised an eyebrow. “You said something about plans last night, but I was a little distracted by the thought of an alien teaching my daughter everything.”

“I have tech and scientific knowledge from a hundred races, thousands of years more advanced than we are. I can't use it all yet, but I have a lot that can be done, from clean energy to better fertilizers. After we have some starting funds, we'll get to work, improving Brockton Bay and spreading out after we've proven the concepts. First, we need to buy all the salvage rights for the boat graveyard. I can use the mass of the ships to build the base buildings and machines we'll use to build things. After that, we can use the DWU to work most of the stuff. We'll need a few programmers and electrical engineers, PR people, everything a large corporation needs to survive these days.”

Danny frowned. “That sounds good, but are you really certain that you can beat all those parahumans? Crawler, especially, seems to be as close to unstoppable as they come.”

“The globe I mentioned using on Eidolon would work on him just as easily.”

Taylor watched her parents think about it. “If it makes you feel any better, I could just collect Crawler today. He's worth about ten million by himself. Then I can build you the suits, make you better and you could come along on the other missions.”

Annette and Danny looked at each other and then back at Taylor. “Define 'make us better', if you would, dear,” said her mother.

“I'd use a power to make you faster, stronger, better reaction times, stuff like that. You would have a regeneration factor, better senses, faster neurological speed. It wouldn't be everything I am, of course, but it would, with the suits, make you a match for most Parahumans.” She grinned slyly. “And it might extend your life a bit, while eliminating most of your old age.”

Before her parents could ask, she continued. “I can't be absolutely certain, of course, but you should get a hundred and fifty or so years, without changing much from your cosmetic age, which will be about twenty-five when I am done.”

Annette stared at her for a minute. “All these things will I give you,” she quoted softly, “If you will but fall down and worship me.”

Danny snorted softly as Taylor rolled her eyes. “Not the devil, Mom, or wanting to be worshiped.” She smiled at her father. “Besides, Dad doesn't make a very good Joseph.”

Danny shrugged. “I'd make as good a Joseph as your mother would a Mary.”

Taylor smiled and shook her head. “None of us are cut for that. There will be some loons that try to worship me, but we'll let them down gently, I hope.”

“That said, let's start working on a plan to save the world and make a few bucks while we're at it.”

By noon, the three of them had worked out a basic plan for the next few months. Since they didn't know who or how they would be attacked on the political or economic side, they could only lay groundwork for that, but there were some things they could do. As they were discussing the next week, Taylor looked up. “Somebody is coming up the walk. They didn't trigger the wards so they must be friendly or neutral.”

She rose and started toward the door. As she reached it, the visitor rang the doorbell. Taylor opened it and found an Asian man standing on the other side who seemed nervous. “Taylor Hebert?” he asked.

“That's me,” Taylor said cheerfully. “What can I do for you?”

He held up two envelopes. “Lung has asked me to give this one to you, Hebert-San, and this one to your mother.”

Annette peered from behind Taylor. “What does Lung want with us?” she asked him while taking her letter.

“I was not given any details, Hebert-San, except to deliver them into your hands and show respect while doing so.”

Taylor nodded, looking at the elegant writing on the outside. “Does Lung expect an immediate answer?”

“He did not tell me to wait, Hebert-San. He would have left contact details in the letters.” He coughed slightly. “Due to circumstances, his contact details change very often.”

“I will have a response as soon as possible. I will note that you were most respectful as well. Thank you.”

The man bowed and took three steps back before turning to leave. Taylor closed the door, looking at her mother, who was already reading her letter. Taylor waited for her to finish reading it. Annette looked up. “Lung was a student of mine, years ago. I remember him, and the name he was using then, but I never knew he was a cape.”

Taylor raised an eyebrow. “I doubt he just wanted to say hello to an old teacher.”

“No, well, he did that also, but mostly he was asking me to use any influence I might have on you to take his request seriously. He went so far as to offer me a future favor if you agree to his request.”

Taylor opened her envelope. “It must be important if he is offering an open favor.”

To: Hebert Taylor,

I apologize for not using your cape name, but I do not know it. I saw the remarkable video of you and the Merchant capes. In the background, there was a person long thought dead. I do not know if you can heal or if she was a clone, but given the wide variety of powers you have shown, I am hopeful for the first time in years.

I would prefer that this not become public knowledge, but I have a daughter. Before I came to Brockton Bay, she was injured in an attack on me. She has laid in a coma these last thirteen years. Not even the famed Panacea can heal the damage to her brain. If you can heal her, I offer five million US dollars and five favors, of anything in my power to do.

Cordially yours,  
Kobayashi Kenta

Taylor read the letter twice. “Well, damn.”

“Language.”

Taylor sighed and passed her letter to her mother. Annette read the letter, her eyebrow raising. “Well, damn.”

“Language, Mother.”

Her mother just looked at her. “What are you going to do?”

Taylor shrugged. “I don't know. I mean, literally the first thing I did was bring you back, so it would be very hypocritical of me to ignore his request, but on the other hand, I simply don't have time to raise and or heal everyone's family.” Taylor's eyes were dark with emotion. “I could spend weeks healing people, and be no closer to stopping Scion than I am now, and all that would be accomplished would be to have more people die when Scion does whatever he's going to do to end his time here.”

She pondered the situation for a minute. “On the other hand, he doesn't want people to know, and I can get him to do something for me. Lung has habits I abhor, and if he really wants his daughter back, he'll give the worst one up.” Taylor looked at her father, who was standing behind Annette, quietly listening. “I also need to know what deals you made with the gangs, Dad.”

Danny's face was blank. “Deals? I haven't made any deals.”

Danny kept his face blank for a minute while the two women stared at him. Annette finally shook her head. “Danny, I have been dead for two years and I don't believe that. No one who has been in the Bay for more than a month would believe that.”

Danny shrugged. “Maybe, but those of us who have made deals to keep the gangs off of us don't talk about them. It's a matter of not escalating the situation, you understand. We found a way to keep the gangs off of our back, and if we spread it around, then others will try it, and sooner or later, the gangs are going to have to give up and go away, or try to stop the spread.” He looked at his family. “Does anyone here believe that Lung or Kaiser is just going to give up?”

Taylor shook her head. “No, no I don't. But I need to know how far I can go to clean the Bay without starting an all-out war. I could end it, but I have better things to do.”

Danny frowned as he thought. “I'll work something out. Why are you so worried about time, anyway? I thought Allikki said these things went on for centuries.”

“Normally, they do, but this one is different. With his partner gone, Scion might do anything. I cannot count on him going on for centuries. I have to act as if he might finish up at any time. If he does finish in the next six months or so, I could lose, just because I don't have the experience to use my full power yet.”

“Then we'd better get started.”  
Lung  
Back seat of a car

Lung nearly burned the envelope that fell in his lap on instinct but refrained at the last minute. He picked it up and pulled the single sheet of paper out and read it.

To: Lung

I can heal the person in question. I will accept the money, simply because I am in need of funds for future plans. Regarding the favors you offered, I want only two. If you agree to those two, we will be even. First, no one other than yourself is to know I healed anyone. I don't have the time to deal with all the people that would come around if my healing ability was widely known. The second is harder on you. You run prostitutes and whorehouses. My second request is that any woman who works for you does so of her own will. Your gang will stop bribing, blackmailing, coercing, kidnapping or in any way forcing them to work. Or, if the ABB gets out of the prostitution business entirely, I will even forego the money you offered.

If you agree to any of these terms, be alone with the person to be healed and one other person in two days. Make sure the area you are in is large enough for me to appear, much as this letter appeared before you. In other business, the DWU will be on alert for some time, but my father assures me that your deal with him will stand.

Taylor Hebert.

Lung put the letter back in the envelope and watched bemused as it faded away. The hope was growing in him, but he set that aside to consider Taylor Hebert. She had somehow found him, without leaving her house and delivered a letter to within inches of him. That implied that she could find him anywhere, anytime. She was entirely too powerful for him to be comfortable with her in the same city. On the other hand, she was willing to work within the existing agreements. He pondered the problem as his driver drove the rounds, checking on various places and people.

Lung really wanted to meet this girl. He had always been better at judging people face to face.  
Amy Dallon  
Brockton Bay General Hospital

“Panacea?” Amy turned towards the nurse standing in the doorway. The nurse looked nervous about something. “There's a woman in conference room three. She came in with that new cape, the girl from the school. She asked me to hand you this and tell you that she would be here for an hour.” The nurse handed her an envelope. Amy nodded, her hands opening the letter curiously.

Miss Dallon,

My name is Annette Hebert and my daughter raised me from the dead yesterday morning. We will pay for you to check that I am in fact alive and human and do not have the biological markers that clones have. I realize that there will be many questions about my return, but a letter from you will help me immensely.

Sincerely,  
Annette Hebert

Amy stared at the letter, her curiosity rising. It was a scam of some sort of course, it was impossible to raise the dead. And yet, the cape had captured all of the merchants in less than five minutes while showing an array of powers that was unheard of for anyone except Eidolon himself. It wouldn't hurt to go and check this Annette Hebert out. Amy looked up at the nurse. “Tell them I have,” she checked her list, “three patients remaining and I will be there in twenty minutes.” She spent a few minutes trying to remember where she'd heard the name Hebert before while continuing her routine. She barely noticed the three people she healed, puzzling over the thought of the Heberts. She was in the elevator going down to the main floor when a pin on a nurse's uniform reminded her where she'd heard the Hebert name before.

A few months back, Carol had been ranting about the Unions and the pressure they were bringing to bear on one of her clients, who had apparently broken the spirit of an agreement while toeing the line on the letter of the contract. She could have won the case in court, but her client had settled because winning wasn't as important to him as being able to continue to do business in the city. Danny Hebert had figured prominently in her rant.

Amy smiled slightly as she approached the door the Heberts were behind. Anyone that could get Carol that worked up would be interesting at least. It would be something to take her mind off of the constant rounds of healing and dealing with her family.

She opened the door to the conference room and walked in, closing it behind her. She registered the two adults in the room, but her attention was on the last member of the group. She was different.

Amy had a nearly instinctive understanding of human physiology, and this girl wasn't. Muscles moved wrong, flexing in places they shouldn't flex. There wasn't any one thing she could point to and say “This isn't human.” except for the girl's eyes, but to her power, she simply wasn't.

“Good afternoon, Panacea, or do you prefer Miss Dallon?” Amy took her eyes off the girl to look at the woman who had spoken. “I prefer Amy,” she returned, “but it's easier for most people if you use Panacea while I am in costume.”

“Do you mind if I ask a question?” Amy looked at the sole male in the group. “I have occasionally wondered why you bother with costumes in the first place. I mean, you are open capes, so it's not like your trying to hide your identity, and none of you have tinker-tech costumes or armor, so I wondered why you even bother with them.”

Amy shrugged. “If I go out in costume, people can ask me things about being a cape, or a member of New Wave, whereas if I am in clothes, I'm being me, and am not available for questions.” She smiled slightly. “That's the idea, anyway. It would be a great deal easier to do if Vicky wasn't quite so outgoing.”

Amy looked at Taylor and then at the older woman. “I'm Amy Dallon, as you know, and I assume you are Annette Hebert?”

“I am, and this is Taylor, my daughter and my husband Danny.”

Amy reached out to shake Annette's offered hand and froze as they touched. Her powers gave her an overview of everyone she touched and Annette was impossible, by everything Amy knew. Annette and the others were watching her.

Amy took a deep breath and let go of her hand. “Sorry, I was just a bit surprised.” At the looks she got from everyone, she continued. “Physically, your body is that of an early thirties woman who has had one or more children. Decent muscle tone, healthy in most ways, although you could use a bit more exercise. But that's where it stops. Every cell in your body is brand new, less than three days old. Even babies straight from the womb have cells that are older than that. I've never seen or heard of anything like this except in some high powered regeneration capes, and even they have older cells.” She looked at Taylor. “How did you do this?”

Taylor explained how she had recreated her mother's body and Amy just stared at her. “You don't need biological material to heal? At All?”

Taylor shook her head. “I just make it. I can manipulate matter at the molecular level.”

Amy stared at her for a minute and then shook her head. “That would explain it. I will tell anyone that asks that as far as I can tell, this is Annette Hebert if you can supply some other sort of DNA from her first body and it matches what she has now. Convincing people that she is returned from the dead is your problem because I have no way to prove that.”

“What if you were there when I did it again?”

Amy looked at her. “You're going to do it again? How many times can you do it?”

Taylor explained her limitations on raising the dead. “But, while I cannot raise any more of my family, I believe you lost somebody. I could bring Fleur back for you, while you watch if you wish.”

Armsmaster and Dragon  
The Rig

“Colin, have you seen this code? It's beautiful.”

Armsmaster barely looked up from the tablet Miss Hebert had given him. “Not yet, I'm still looking at the physical components. I noted when I copied it to you, of course, it looked very efficient.”

Dragon spent a microsecond to run her ColinbeingColin subroutine. Her avatar rolled its eyes as she replied. “It's clean, nearly impossible to crash and capable of handling far more processes than any normal program I've ever seen. I installed it in a mark seventeen server.”

Colin looked up. “That's the one you built to hold the Endbringer dedicated software, isn't it?”

“It is,” Dragon replied, readying a camera. “It's running all my Endbringer software and doing it 97 percent faster than the code we wrote for it.”

Colin froze as he processed that. “A generic OS is running the Endbringer software better than the OS we built specifically for running it?” Dragon put the picture she had just taken in her hidden CandidColin archive and nodded at him. Colin shook his head. “I wonder if we could get Miss Hebert to build an OS for it? If her generic OS is that good, how good would a purpose-built one be?”

Dragon had lost track of that discussion as she examined what Colin had on his desk before him. “Colin? This is the tinker tech tablet she created for you?”

He looked down. “Yes. Fascinating stuff. I've barely begun examining it and there are a dozen things that that I have found to use in my armor. More importantly, my power isn't giving me any way to make it more efficient.”

Dragon blinked. “None?” She shook her head. “I've got any bit of data for you. I've hooked into your scanner, and I can read the physical components here, all of them.”

Colin looked at it. “Could you make one?”

Dragon shook her head. “Not yet. I don't have the tools to make it, but if I built them, I could make this, assuming that superconductor can be duplicated. Two years, maybe? Closer to three, I think.”

They both looked at it for a long moment. Dragon finally spoke. “It's not tinker tech. It is, however, advanced beyond anything on this planet. Most of the components are things we're only beginning to make. Where did a newly triggered Parahuman get advanced tech, that isn't tinker tech?”

The Heberts  
PRT Headquarters

Taylor and her parents sat in Danny's truck outside the PRT building. Taylor had faded away for a few minutes and suddenly popped back into her seat, smiling.

Danny looked her over. “Are you ready to do this?”

Taylor grinned at him and held up a small amber ball. Danny took a closer look at it and saw the monster cape called Crawler in the middle. “That's him?”

“Pocket-sized, for easy transportation,” Taylor sniggered. “I'll return it to full size inside and let them decide if they want it life-size or smaller.”

Annette looked at it warily. “He can't escape, right? It would not be nice to share a vehicle with him.”

“Don't worry, Mom. The only thing I know of that can break this ball would destroy the entire planet we're sitting on first.” She turned to Danny. “You ready to go claim my first paycheck?”

Danny sighed as he started getting out of the truck. “On the one hand, my daughter will have no problem supporting herself. On the other hand, she makes more than I do, which hurts my masculine pride.” He grinned at her to show he wasn't serious.

Annette joined them, taking Danny's arm. “I am perfectly willing to allow her to support me in the style to which I would like to become accustomed.” She smiled. “Including flying armor. I always wondered what it was like to fly.”

They entered the building and Danny spoke to the receptionist behind the desk. “Hello. We'd like to drop off a bounty, please.”

The man behind the desk blinked. “Who are you claiming the bounty on?”

“Crawler.”

The trooper raised an eyebrow and made a show of looking around. “Last I knew,” he said dryly, “Crawler was ten feet tall and nearly twenty feet long. Is he invisible?”

Taylor grinned and tossed the amber orb on the floor. “Don't freak out, OK?”

Five seconds later, the lobby was filled with Containment Foam and alarms were going off everywhere.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author warning: Taylor will be trying to explain some of her abilities this chapter without saying “It's magic.”, and in doing so, will be using Handwavium, Bullshitium, Unobtainium and other iums to avoid saying “I can mentally control a form of energy that you can't detect yet and bend it to my will.”
> 
> Do not get caught up in the Bullshitium, because it's all Bullshit. Taylor does magic, but is aware that saying so will automatically make her a nutcase to most people. Hopefully, I can talk some good Handwavium.
> 
> Why, yes, I am aware that my technobabble is bullshitium.

Chapter Six  
PRT M/S Security Guards  
M/S watch room 1-A

“Sergeant, we have a cape and two humans approaching the front door.” Sgt. Wayne looked up from his paperwork, examining the girl approaching the front door. As the three of them stepped inside, Trooper Eastwood whistled softly. “Sergeant, the cape registered three hundred and sixty-five pounds, and is at least fourteen degrees hotter than human normal.” The three guards examined the bio-metric data that scanned every person that walked in the doors. Wayne had just come to a few conclusions when Trooper Lee hissed and slammed his hand down on the panic button. Looking up at the monitor, he was just in time to see an orange ball with what looked like Crawler inside it disappear under foam.

He flicked his eyes to the print out of what had been said between the three unknowns and the desk man. “Jesus, that was Crawler, good reflexes, Lee. However, the cape was supposedly turning him for the bounty.”

The hot-line rang and he was explaining the situation to Director Piggot while the fast response team assembled outside the doors, waiting on whichever capes were available right now. Four minutes later, they started the slow process of dissolving the foam from the room. The ball containing Crawler was uncovered first, being closer to the doors, and they waited while Armsmaster ran scans on it and determined that Crawler was in fact secured.

After that was determined, they continued until they were close to the three people, whom Armsmaster had tentatively identified as the Heberts. This had opened a new can of worms, as at least one of the Heberts was dead. Bio-metrics and local pictures pulled from the archives seemed to match the woman, but confirmation was waiting, pending an examination. Danny Hebert was further identified by several local Troopers, including at least two that had been in the DWU before joining the PRT.

Taylor Hebert had positively been identified by Armsmaster's scanners, since he had just spent three days scanning her.

As they came close to them, the response team began issuing the standards order to people that were foamed. “Close your eyes, do not breathe while the solvent is being sprayed on your face. Do not use any powers. Remain still and follow all instructions given to you. Failure to follow these instruction will result in you being foamed again. Attempts at violence will be met with force.”

Soon there were three bedraggled people standing there and the older female looked at the younger one. “Four years. I ran with capes for four years and never got foamed, not once.”

The younger woman blushed and scratched the back of her neck, which nearly got her foamed again. “Maybe not the best way to do that?”

Armsmaster sighed. “While I do understand that some capes like the dramatic gestures, the lobby of the PRT building is not a good place for that.” He flicked a glance at the ball holding Crawler. “I am unable to think of any good place for dramatic gestures with the villain in question.”

Taylor  
Containment Foamed

Taylor's hearing was good enough to hear what was going on outside the foam as she cursed the impulse that she had let control her. Yes, the guard's face when Crawler had appeared out of nowhere had been funny as hell, but in reflection, not the best idea she'd ever had. Judging by the swearing coming from her parents, she was going to be hearing about this for a very long time.

She debated just vanishing the foam, but given the troopers gathering in the accesses to the lobby and their orders, that might escalate matters to the point she'd never be able to work with the PRT again.

She waited patiently until all three were free. Armsmaster looked at them and gave some quick orders.

The three of them were shown to changing rooms and given PRT coveralls to wear, since the foam dis-solver was not recommended for long term exposure. Miss Militia led Annette and Taylor to the female changing room. She leaned against the wall while the two Heberts put their clothes in bags and rinsed the solvent off. Taylor just shook her clothes and everything on it just disappeared. Miss Militia had a second of envy for a costume that was that easy to clean.

“Taylor, did you just want to get foamed?”

“What? No, you heard me tell him not to freak out, Mom.”

“Taylor, this is the PRT building. I assume it has tinker tech defenses, and at least a dozen people watching the lobby at any given minute.”

“Mom, it's the headquarters of the PRT, with dozens of troopers and however many capes in it. Do you really think anyone would be stupid enough to walk in the front door and attack it openly?”

“Little Owl, I've been dead for two years and I still remember the Teeth attacking this building before the Marquis ran them out, the Fallen attacking one in Mississippi and the Butcher attacking New York's building.”

“Huh. That seems stupid to me.”

“Taylor, I know it's been a while, but what did I tell you about the bell curve?”

“That if fifty percent of the people were above average, that meant that fifty percent were below average. Although, I've been thinking about that Mom, and it can't be fifty-fifty, because some of the people have to be on that mid-line, or it wouldn't be average.”

“It's a metaphor, Taylor. It's simply meant to point out that for every intelligent person you meet, there's an idiot out there somewhere. Hopefully, in your life, you'll be above the bell curve, but this little stunt makes me wonder.”

“Hey!”

Miss Militia listened to the older woman gently chiding her daughter about getting them all foamed with a smile. There were nothing but questions about the Heberts, Annette Hebert mostly, but Taylor Hebert's power list was growing, as were the questions about that power. And of course the Director wanted to know what Danny Hebert was going to do about what happened to his daughter. The Dock workers spending the day openly examining and reinforcing their defenses was making a lot of people nervous.

They walked to the briefing room where Danny Hebert and Armsmaster were waiting. Miss Militia gestured them in and they founds seats next to each other as Taylor studied the room. It was a fairly standard government conference room, rectangular, with a long table and a screen at one end. There was a computer built into the table, near where Armsmaster was. The chairs were sturdy, built to hold people in power armor, Taylor supposed. The only other thing of note in the room was the small refreshment table with the coffee pot and small microwave.

Having examined all the things in the room, she turned her attention to the two humans. Miss Militia was leaning on a wall watching everyone without focusing on any one thing. Armsmaster was frowning at a tablet in his hands. Miss Militia coughed softly and Armsmaster looked up. “Director Piggot will be here shortly, and asked that we not start without her. It will take a few more minutes to reopen all the lock down protocols. In the meantime, may I ask what that orb is made of?”

“It's a energy absorbing stasis field created by one of these.” Taylor brought a small cube out of her pocket. “I'd let you have one for study, but I only have three, or two rather. It creates two fields, an inner stasis field to protect or contain the target, and an outer field that absorbs any type of energy to power the device.”

Armsmaster looked at the cube and Taylor saw the merest twitch of his fingers. “Give me a couple of weeks to get up and running, and I'll give you one, along with the plans.”

Armsmaster was deep in his scans of the cube and replied absently, “The plans would be nice, but tinker tech plans never work for anyone but the maker.”

“That's not Tinker Tech.”

Armsmaster and Miss Militia looked at it and then at Taylor who was smiling. “It is very advanced, but I can show you you every step of the process that created it. It would take, maybe ten years? To build the factory that can build it. If you had a factory retooled for building the computers that have to run the factory that builds them, you could have them in use in eleven years or so.”

Miss Militia was staring at it. “What is it's purpose?”

“It was designed for medical emergencies and containment of hostiles. In a medial emergency, the patient is delivered to the medial unit unchanged, due to the stasis field. No loss of time in transport. As a containment field, well, you saw Crawler. Normally, the officer using it would secure the hostile, take them to a secure area and open the orb under controlled circumstances.”

Armsmaster looked up from the cube. “Someone could open that cube? Can it happen by accident?”

“Not Crawler's cube, no. This one, for example, is set to my voice and a verbal password.” Taylor picked up the cube and touched a small button on the side. “Square cube, one foot.” She set it down and said “Bing!” The cube flashed and where it had been was a square, the same color as the orb that held Crawler. Taylor let them examine it for a minute and then said “Zap.” and they all watched ass the amber field went away, leaving the small cube behind. “Crawler's cube is a bit different. I programmed the password requirements into it. It requires a three hundred and thirty-three digit password made up of characters from seven alphabets and three different numbering systems. Just to make it a little harder, it must be done vocally in binary in five seconds or less.”

Miss Militia stared at her. “Is that even possible?”

Taylor frowned, thinking about it. “Maybe?” she offered, “I could build a machine to vocalize the password, I think, and speeding the recording up is easy of course, But, making a machine that would be clear enough for the orb to understand, while being fast enough to beat the time limit...” She thought about it some more. “Maybe?”

“How did you generate a password of that complexity, and how do you keep it recorded?” Armsmaster looked very interested in the answer.

“I didn't record it. I have no intention of ever opening that orb and releasing Crawler. As for the generation, I put the parameters I wanted in a random number generator, like the one in that tablet I gave you, and used a wired connection to input it directly to the base cube without ever seeing it.”

“What would it take to damage the cube, if somebody tried to free him with brute force?”

Taylor blinked and thought about it for a minute, before creating one of the little tablets and working with it for a minute. “Huh. I knew it was durable, but this is ridiculous.”

She passed the tablet to Armsmaster. “Would you check the math on this? I'm better with languages than numbers.”

Armsmaster looked at it for a minute. “Do you mind if I show this to Dragon? She is faster than I am.”

“Not at all.” Taylor was fairly certain she had the numbers right, these types of problems had been something Allikki had drilled her on, but making sure you didn't misplace a decimal point somewhere was only common sense.

Behind Armsmaster, the screen on the wall lit up, showing Dragon's avatar. “Is everything OK, Armsmaster? It's been a long time since somebody tripped the base lock-down protocols without a warning.”

“An independent hero brought in a bounty this morning,” he said absently, still examining the math. “They were slightly dramatic about revealing Crawler and the security forces hit the panic button.”

Dragon stared at him for a minute, her avatar showing surprise. “I think I'm going to want a few more details, and what are you looking at so intently?”

Armsmaster held the tablet up to a small camera in the side of the screen. “Would you verify the math on this equation, please?”

Dragon's avatar looked down and she frowned slightly and then looked up. “Are the base numbers correct?”

“Yes, Ma'am.” Taylor said, drawing the Tinker's eye.

Dragon looked at the other people in the room for the first time. “Armsmaster,” she said gently, drawing his attention from the tablet, “would you mind introducing the others?”

Armsmaster cleared his throat. “My apologies. Dragon, these are the Heberts, Danny, Annette and Taylor.”

Dragon nodded and said hello. “Miss Hebert, can I assume that this tablet is another one of yours?”

“Yes,” she said, watching Armsmaster cradle it, “and it's leaving with me.”

“Would you be willing to sell me one?”

Taylor shrugged. “Maybe, but I'll give you one free, if you'll meet me tomorrow and listen to a proposal I have.”

Dragon cocked her head. “A proposal?”

Taylor nodded. “I have a bunch of plans for stuff that can be built easily, and some that will take a bit of work, like the tablet, but I need somebody that has the capability to make the stuff.”

Dragon nodded slowly. “Where should I meet you?”

Taylor looked at her father. “May we use the old number four warehouse? It's deep in DWU territory, and big enough for Dragon's suit, and no one is using it right now, are they?”

Danny considered it for a minute. “Yeah, it will work. I'll give you the key for the front door in the morning. But, I will have a group providing security.”

Taylor rolled her eyes and Danny caught it. “Yes, yes, I know you're a bad ass hero now, but you are still my little girl. Deal with it.”

Annette was laughing softly at Taylor's expression when the door opened. Director Piggot stepped in and looked around, before walking to the head of the table and sitting down. She looked at Taylor. “On the one hand, you brought in Crawler. On the other hand, I have just spent thirty minutes using command codes to unlock most of my building, I had to talk to three different Directors to convince them we didn't need assistance and the paperwork on this fiasco is going to take me a month to fully complete.” Taylor was blushing. “The next time you drop off an S class threat like this, please remember that we need a bit more than four seconds warning.”

Piggot took a deep breath. “That said, would you mind telling us exactly how you found and captured Crawler?”

Taylor held up her hand and a softly glowing ball appeared in it. “Last night I sent two hundred of these to Crawler's last known location on the S class tracker PHO thread. Using the descriptions of Crawler from eyewitnesses that survived him and video, I loaded his description into them and sent them out in a search pattern. Once one of them found a trace, the others gathered and they tracked him down.”

Director Piggot looked at the globe. “Is that a tinker tech machine or what?”

Taylor shook her head. “It's a...” She fell silent trying to describe it. “It's a program, sheathed in energy, basically. I have a number of preset programs that I can use and I can create more, if I don't have one suitable for what I want to do.”

Dragon was staring at it. “It's a program? Where's the hardware to run it?”

“The energy is the hardware. It's an eight dimension lattice frame that uses the program installed in it to do whatever needs to be done.”

Dragon opened her mouth, thought again and closed it without saying anything. Armsmaster was less less restrained. “How does the program keep the energy from dispersing?”

Taylor frowned. 'I can't explain it in words. How familiar are you with Octonions?”

Dragon shook her head. “I understand them, but I cannot say I am familiar with them.”

Taylor took her tablet back from a reluctant Armsmaster and asked Dragon for an email she could send her an email on.

Taylor sent her the email. “That's the mathematical equation to make it work, but it requires access to the form of energy my power uses, and the math for that is... quite a bit more complex."

Dragon was still for a minute. “This is interesting,” she said finally. “I can see how it works, but there are some basic proofs missing.”

Taylor shrugged. “My power allows me to access a form of energy that nothing you have can detect, as far as I know. There may be a cape out there somewhere that can detect it, but I haven't found any signs of them yet. Assign an unknown energy as X, use that in those proofs you need as the energy source."

Dragon blinked and then stared at Taylor. “You're the one.”

Taylor looked at her questioningly. “The one what?”

“Last night, at eleven twenty-three, something started surfing the net, something without an IP, no form of identity at all, and with no concern for any type of firewall, anti virus or protection. If it wasn't for the absolutely insane data transmission rates that go nowhere, I wouldn't even know about it. You're doing it, aren't you?”

Taylor sighed. “I knew I forgot something this morning.” She took her tablet and tapped the screen.

“Good morning, Sentient. “I have completed ninety-four percent of the assigned task. Seventy-two percent is in languages other than the base English you are using. Do you want it translated?”

“Yes. In your search, did you ignore firewalls and other data protections?”

“They were in the way of carrying out your orders.”

“Asimov, limit yourself to publicly accessible data unless I tell you otherwise.”

“Yes, Sentient. Do you want me to delete all non-public data accessed at this point?”

Taylor was about to say no when she saw Director Piggot and Dragon staring at her intently. “Yes. Delete and scrub all protected data from any source other than me.”

Taylor shut down the tablet and scratched her head. “Sorry about that. I sent Asimov on a web search for data and didn't give him enough instructions, apparently.”

Dragon asked, “Is Asimov an Artificial Intelligence?”

Taylor shook her head. “Oh god no. I would never create an AI in this time. People almost always think Machine Army or Skynet when they hear AI; I would never subject a silicon person to that.”

Director Piggot sighed. “I note you didn't say you couldn't do it.”

Taylor shrugged. “I could, but I can also deposit the Rig on the moon. Actually, it would be easier to deposit the rig on the moon, that's a fairly simple teleportation.”

Taylor was thinking and didn't notice the looks the four officials were giving her. Danny just sighed and covered his eyes with his hand. “Taylor, honey, maybe it would be better to not tell everyone that you can do things like that. It tends to make them nervous, and then they try to do things that cause immense collateral damage.”

Director Piggot sighed. “Just how many powers do you have, Miss Hebert?”

Taylor thought about it for a second. “All of them, I think. Assuming that list of power classifications on PHO is accurate, at least.”

“The current list is accurate,” Armsmaster said absently, as he did something to the computer in the table. “It is often misused by civilians to improperly classify parahuman powers. The list is meant to represent their threat levels...”

Miss Militia interrupted him. “Armsmaster, we don't need a rundown on the PRT ratings.” She looked at Taylor. “Would you elaborate, please?”

Taylor shrugged. “I can pretty much do anything I can imagine, or build a tool to do it for me.”

Director Piggot stared at her. “Anything?” she said dubiously.

Taylor gave a pointed look at her mother. “Anything.”

“You do realize,” Miss Militia said gently, “that evidence aside, that is a very large claim.”

Taylor shrugged. “I know it is, but none the less, it's true.” She held out her hand and concentrated for a minute. The other people in the room watched as a glow started in her hand, shrinking down into a small green gem, about half the size of a golf ball. She handed it to Armsmaster. “Here. It's a basic healing field. Wear it, and minor cuts and scrapes will disappear in minutes. Larger injuries will be healed more slowly, but they'll go away as long as they aren't too large. If your head falls off, that gem won't help you.”

Armsmaster was frowning at it. “I cannot scan it.”

“I told you, the energy that I use can't be detected by anything I know of. You can only see it because the formula I used to make it has a subsection turning some of the energy into visible light. Same thing with being able to feel it, part of the equation builds a field around it that allows you to touch it, otherwise it would be intangible.”

Director Piggot suddenly started glaring at Taylor. “Miss Hebert, do you have one of those gems on you right now? One that we can't see?”

Taylor blinked, not understanding where the anger was coming from. “Not exactly?” She stood up, and pointed to one of the runic figures on her boots and at the same figure on her bracers and vest. “This does the same thing, only better. It heals any injury that isn't instant death.”

“Is it targeted, or is it an area affect?”

Taylor blinked and considered it for a minute. “It's an intent based area effect. I don't want to heal my enemies, so it heals anyone within about fifty feet of me that isn't actively trying to kill me or having seriously negative feelings about me.”

“You are using parahuman powers on everyone that comes within fifty feet of you?”

“Of course not,” Taylor said. “That would be illegal. But, by the ruling of the Supreme Court, I am not a parahuman.”

The four PRT personnel stared at each other and then at Taylor. Taylor took out a sheet of paper. “The Supreme Court ruled in Wayne v. New York Mets that the legally defining characteristic of a Parahuman was the presence of the Gemma and or Pollentia, which is why all professional sports team use a MRI to prevent Parahumans from joining teams. This is a notarized Affidavit written by Panacea, stating that none of us have either structure in our brains or bodies. Therefore, I am not a parahuman.”

As the silence continued, Taylor handed the paper to Piggot, who read it carefully, noting that it was copy four of twelve. “I am,” Taylor said, “more than willing to allow you to do an MRI, to confirm Panacea's findings, but you will find nothing. I am also aware that no matter what the source of my powers is, I will be considered a Parahuman. I am telling you that I am not a parahuman to prevent offers of joining the Wards and so that when I start doing things that are of questionable legality for Parahumans, you don't come and try to arrest me for things that are legal for non cape people.”

Director Piggot looked at her suspiciously. “What other parahuman laws are you planning on breaking?”

“I haven't broken any Parahuman laws, yet. In fact, except for the laws against unmasking a Protectorate hero or attacking the Protectorate heroes, I can't break any parahuman laws, since I do not meet the legal definition of a Parahuman, and after I claim the bounty on Crawler, I will have enough money to tie any attempt to declare me one in court forever.” Taylor took a deep breath. “That said, the DWU is even now buying the right to all salvage in the bay and we'll be using the salvage to provide materials for the factories we'll be building to build things to help people. Nothing I will be doing violates NEPEA-5 but I am certain that some people will try to stop or slow me. They will use whatever legal means they can first, but when that doesn't work, they will try other methods.”

“What will you do then?” asked Miss Militia.

“I will defend myself, my family and the docks, just as every other Union employee does. The union will be hiring my cape persona to pull security in the area run by the DWU. As long as people don't cause any problems in that area, I will be happy to work toward my goals and leave the fighting to capes.”

“What are your goals, Miss Hebert?”

Taylor spread her hands out. “Eventually, to make life better for people. Along the way, I'll have some fun and make enough money that I can support my parents in the lifestyle my mother very much wishes to become accustomed to.”

Annette coughed. “That was a joke, Taylor.”

“Miss Hebert, would you come in for power testing?” Director Piggot asked. “If you're going to be a rogue in this city, it would be nice to know a little more about you.”

Taylor thought about it for a minute. “It would depend on how long it takes. I have a thousand things to set up and do. The factories alone are going to take up a lot of time, permits and legal matters will be Dad's area, but physically moving the salvage to where the DWU can start ripping it apart is on me.”

Miss Militia was staring at Taylor intently. “That almost sounds as if you are working toward a schedule. Is there some reason you are in such a hurry?”

Taylor shrugged. “As soon as some people find out what I'm doing, there will be legal challenges, idiot capes that want to screw things up, and I need to build a couple of dozen things for Endbringers. I'm not sure what will work on them yet, so at the very least, I need my analyzers for the next battle, so I can figure what weapons will work, without destroying half the city.”

The four protectorate people sighed. Another new cape, who thought they had the answer to the Endbringers. Taylor saw the exchange of sighs and looks and grinned. “I know you don't believe yet that I can take an Endbringer, but that's OK. There is one coming in a few weeks. I can wait until then to prove it.” She grimaced. “That's another reason I am in such a hurry. After I kill one, everyone is going to be bothering me. I need to have the basis of my company going by then.”

Armsmaster considered Taylor thoughtfully. “You claimed that destroying the Endbringers would not be hard.”

Taylor nodded. “As a last resort, I could simply make an Anti-matter Emitter, but that would destroy the Endbringer and everything within a five or six mile radius.”

“You can make controlled anti matter weapons?” Director Piggot had a headache already, and the more this girl talked, the worse it got. If even half of what this girl claimed was true, she was an S class threat at the least. Then something occurred to her. “Everything within five or six miles, you say?”

Taylor looked at her, the change of tone obvious. “It's not actually a weapon, it's part of a faster than light starship drive, but if you take off a few of the safeties, and add a small drive unit to it, you have a remotely controlled anti matter missile.”

Dragon was the one that reacted this time. “You can build a starship?”

“I can build five different starships and maybe a dozen in system vessels, but it's going to be ten years or so before the technology base is high enough to do so.” She smiled. “I'm going to name the first one Enterprise, of course, but after that I plan on naming them after authors.”

Director Piggot shook her head. “I can't tell if you actually believe you can do all of this, or if your powers have screwed with your head. I will tell you that your actions in taking out the merchants will stir a hornet's nest in the city. Right now, I have no legal excuse to bring you in. If you give me that excuse, I will do it however.”

Taylor frowned. Allikki and she had spent many hours looking at the Parahuman laws and how to get around them, but they had both been aware that people would be trying to apply them to her anyway. She pulled her tablet out and set it to record. “I already know that you are recording this meeting. I assume that Dragon is also recording from her base. I am now recording it as well. Director Piggot, I am informing you again, with the evidence that Panacea gave me, that I am not a Parahuman, that your parahuman laws do not apply to me. By the end of the day, I will have lawyers. If I am arrested under any Parahuman law that does not apply to me, I will cause a shitstorm the likes of which you have never seen. I will make it my mission to destroy the PRT's reputation, starting with the actions of Shadow Stalker in her civilian persona, and go from there. We both know that there are a great many things that will not stand the light of day in the PRT history. You people do a job, I would hate to interfere with it, but if you interfere with my mission, I will.”

Director Piggot had been about to interrupt this arrogant little child when she mentioned Shadow Stalker. “How did you know about Shadow Stalker?” She was swearing inwardly. That stupid little girl. Piggot was going to find a way to get rid of Shadow Stalker, no matter what the higher authorities wanted. Let them deal with the brat if they wanted her so badly.

“Actually, I wasn't positive until just now. Sophia Hess was supposedly arrested with Madison Clements and Emma Barnes, a video I watched with great relish. Then, searching PHO for information, I noted that the Cape Watch thread said that Shadow Stalker hadn't been seen in a couple of days. Shadow Stalker is a thin athletic girl with a runner's build. I checked as many pictures as I could find of Shadow Stalker, and she stands and moves like Sophia. Stalker's history of violence, Sophia's love of physical bullying, and the near match in voice's, when you listen to them both. I was fairly certain, but nothing I could take to court, until you reacted.”

Taylor sighed. “I will not being doing anything to those girls, no matter what the courts decide with them. I have too much to do and too much power to be dealing with minor annoyances like that. However, if Stalker is foolish enough to try and come after my family, all bets are off.”

Director Piggot frowned as her headache got even worse. “You'll all have to sign a NDA before you leave.”

Danny was furious. “Are you telling me that a Ward, one on probation, according to the local scuttlebutt, was allowed to bully people at her school, and not one of you picked up on it?”

Miss Militia shook her head. “Not exactly, the principal and her handler colluded together to cover for her activities. They actively kept anyone else from finding out with the assistance of Sophia's lawyer.”

Danny stared at her, then nodded. “I am not as nice as Taylor is. There will be a lawsuit against the school, those children and anyone else my lawyer recommends we sue. I will leave the PRT out of it, but those others are going to pay.'

Taylor rolled her eyes. “We'll talk about that, Dad. I may not have time to spend hours or days in a courtroom.”

Director Piggot considered the mess before her. Parahumans were trouble and this girl was twice the trouble of any parahuman she'd ever heard of. Her power levels were obviously above normal, judging by the way she spent a couple of hours looking for, finding and capturing the highest bounty in America without even breaking a sweat. Equally obviously, she was still an impulsive teenager, judging by that stupid stunt in the lobby. Piggot didn't want her in the same state, let alone the same city, but if she had to be here, Piggot damn well wanted some sort of restraint on her. Piggot wracked her brain, looking for some sort of leverage.

“You will understand, Miss Hebert, that given the things you have shown that you can do, that I cannot just take your word that you are not a Parahuman, even with Panacea's affidavit. I will get an MRI scheduled as soon as possible. Until you pass that MRI, you will be considered a parahuman. That said, since you have not done anything illegal yet, I cannot do anything to you. Would you accept a liaison to be with you while you're in public?”

Taylor raised an eyebrow. “With two of your people down with the parahuman illness, can you afford to assign somebody to me full time? I don't really need to sleep anymore.”

“I was thinking more of a trooper, but if you don't sleep, rotating shifts would work as well.”

“They will be reporting to you on what I do, won't they?”

“Of course.”

“It's not a problem, as I said, I am not going to be doing anything illegal. I do have three places they will not enter, though. They don't get to sit in on my meetings with lawyers, doctors or New Wave.” Taylor blinked. “Or Lung.”

“Lung?” Director Piggot stared at her.

“Lung has asked me to do something completely legal but private. I gave my word that I would keep it private.”

“It's a power related thing, isn't it?” Dragon was watching Taylor.

“Of course.” Taylor smiled. “It's not like Lung has to ask a teenage girl to do anything for him if she doesn't have powers.”

Before the meeting could continue, Dragon spoke to Armsmaster. “Armsmaster, I need you to run a physical check. This morning's alert has shown me something I need a second opinion on.”

Director Piggot looked up. “What sort of something?”

Dragon looked at the Heberts and back at the Director. “It appears to be a Twenty-seven Echo event, Director.”

The other three protectorate members whipped around to stare at Dragon, the tension rising in the room. Piggot was already standing and heading for the door. “Miss Militia, get a NDA from all three and show them out. Then join us as soon as you can.”

“Yes, Director.”

“You'll have to excuse us, something has come up,” the Director said tersely, already nearly to the door. “Miss Hebert, I hope to never have to see you in an official capacity. Mr. and Mrs. Hebert, it was nice to meet you.” She'd barely finished speaking when the door shut behind her and Armsmaster. Taylor noted that Dragon's monitor was empty as well.

Miss Militia was on her phone, asking a trooper to bring the NDAs to the conference room.

While they waited, Taylor was looking at Miss Militia thoughtfully. “Do the weapons you make have to be in production, or merely capable of being mass produced?”

Miss Militia evaluated her for a minute. “Capable of it. Some of the weapons I can make haven't been in production for decades and some never were in mass production.”

Taylor nodded, thinking carefully. “May I show you a weapon? I would be interested in knowing if you could duplicate it.”

“What type of weapon?”

“A non-lethal beam weapon,” Taylor said, thinking about it. “It's similar to a laser, but cannot deal physical damage to people or things. It uses a beam of light to carry an effect that knocks mammals out. Note that it won't work on anything that isn't a mammal, unless it has a very simple system. You could knock a worm out, although I can't imagine why you'd be shooting at a worm.”

Miss Militia looked intrigued. “How big or small of a mammal are we talking about?”

Taylor considered the matter thoughtfully. “Maybe two shots for an elephant?” she said. “Anything else should go down in one shot, some brutes excepted and of course anyone with good regeneration will probably ignore it.”

Miss Militia hummed. “So, Lung and the twins would be effectively immune, but any of the other parahumans in the Bay and all the normal criminals would be affected?”

“Alabaster will just wake up again,” Taylor said, thinking about the villains in the Bay, “but since it ignores anything but flesh, even Kaiser and Hookwolf should be affected.” She grinned at Miss Militia. “Interested in seeing it?”

Before she could answer, a knock came at the door and Miss Militia accepted the NDAs from the trooper. Signing them took a few minutes as all three of them read them over. When they had signed them and Miss Militia had collected them, she looked at Taylor. “You don't seem to like the PRT, but you gave Armsmaster that tablet, are offering Dragon a partnership building things and now you're offering me a very good weapon. I do not understand the dichotomy you are showing here.”

Taylor looked at her for a long time. “The PRT has rules, regulations and laws that do not give parahumans an equal chance to be anything but a cape, working for the PRT. I despise the way any parahuman that just wants to be a working person is discriminated against. That said, the capes that work for the PRT are trying to do the best job they can, under huge restraints and pressure.” Miss Militia caught a flash of sadness and pity? from Taylor, but didn't have time to wonder about it as Taylor continued. “For the most part, the rank and file of working troopers and capes in the PRT and the Protectorate are solid law enforcement people, just doing their jobs. The administration and politicians idiots that run the organization don't change that.”

Miss Militia thought about what she'd said. “On the other hand,” she countered, “many parahumans find that the path of villainy is easier, and some powers need to be controlled, like Nilbog.” She looked at her watch. “While I would love to continue this, I have to go. I'll see you out.”

As they walked out, Annette invited Miss Militia over to house for dinner. “I am slightly out of touch, and would like to hear the official word on the political and social side of the parahuman scene.”

Miss Militia couldn't say yes or no, since she didn't know how long this situation the PRT had was going to take, but she gave Annette her number to call in a day or two, to set up a time to talk.

“I'll probably be calling in a day or two anyway. I am going to assume that the weapon you are offering will be accepted, mostly so the thinkers and tinkers can see if they can reproduce it. I would ask to see it now, but I am out of time, and I have to check on the regulations about it.” She didn't miss Taylor's rolled eyes.

Taylor shrugged. “It's a very complex weapon. It's going to take at least eight years before Dragon and I can start making them for law enforcement. If they can cut that time down, more power to them.”

Miss Militia left them in the lobby, where Taylor and Danny had to sign for the bounty check that had been verified and cut while they were talking to the director.

Taylor was looking at it as they walked out. “Eighteen point five million dollars for,” she checked her watch. “roughly three hours work.” She looked at Danny with a smile. “Does the union pay this well?”

Annette snorted. “Not that I recall, unless things have changed drastically in the last two years.”

The three of them were in a good mood, teasing each other about their plans for the bounty, although Annette had a question about that. “Shouldn't that be higher? I could have sworn the bounty on Crawler was far higher than that.”

Taylor shrugged. “There's about eight million in dead only private bounties, which I don't get since he's not dead and another six or seven million in private bounties, which will be released after the PRT gives their press conference and confirms his capture. Not that I care, by dinner, everyone with a computer should know he was captured.”

Annette looked at the small smirk on her daughter's face. “Taylor, honey, the last time you looked like that, Mr. Jacobson was over complaining about his suddenly pink bulldog.”

Taylor laughed. “I sent two hundred tracking drones after Crawler, and yet no one has asked me if they could record.” She looked at her watch. “The video went up on PHO about an hour ago.” She checked her tablet. “Three million views and growing.” She put her tablet away by tossing it up in the air and watching it disappear.

Annette just shook her head. Danny was watching the people around them. Looked as she did when she came out of the orb at the school and almost everyone around them was watching them, some covertly, some openly, but no one had approached them yet. Danny looked at his daughter.

He was not happy with the burden that Allikki had laid on his daughter. She was too young, damn it. And yet, if Allikki had not done it, Taylor would be a parahuman right now, and doomed to die in the next ten years, as Allikki destroyed the parasites that gave people their powers. He wanted his daughter to live, he just wished there had been another way besides laying the fate of the world, all the worlds, if he was understanding it properly, on his daughter's shoulders, no matter how broad or strong those shoulders were now.

Taylor was aware of the people watching her, but the only parahuman that had come near had been a blonde girl, who was too busy talking on her phone to do anything until she had actually seen Taylor. She'd stopped, watched her for almost a minute and then winced in pain and turned around, taking up her phone again.

Taylor was not enjoying all the attention, but she'd had a lot of time to get used to the idea that she was going to be the focus of almost everyone for one reason or another. Between her attempts to bring the tech level up to a space faring race, and the destruction, sooner or later, of the Endbringers, every bloody soul on the planet was going to know who she was in a year.

She was distracted then, as her father handed over the bounty check for cashing into the Hebert account. The look on the cashier's face was hilarious, as were the day manager and vice president they called over. The check was eventually cashed and split into three accounts, one for the as yet unnamed business, one for buying things to build other things and Taylor insisted her parents take some. “I insist because A. you have to feed me, and it's not been obvious yet, but I eat a great deal more than I did before, B. there are things in the house that Mom is going to want to replace, and C. Dad, get a decent net connection, please. I'm even paying for it.”

“Taylor, it's not that you want to help out,” her father said, “but two million dollars is.”

Taylor interrupted him. “Chump change, Dad. By this time next year, we should be looking at an income in the tens of millions, in a decade, in the billions.”

“And if you're wrong?” her father said. “if they do find a way to shut you down?”

Taylor grinned. “If they're still trying to after the first Endbringer death, Congress will shut them down quickly, if I publicly suggest that I might move to a country that would appreciate my powers and skills.” She shrugged. “As long as we get the first factory built, with my lab in it, at that point, no one will be able to stop me short of Scion destroying the planet.”

Further discussion was interrupted by four men bursting in the doors waving firearms. Taylor took a minute to scan for Parahumans. She blinked and scanned again, then looked at the four men who were herding everyone into a group.

What kind of idiots held up a bank in Brockton Bay without parahuman assistance? A sudden urge came over her and she grinned and crouched down slightly, picking out the leader.

David Monroe  
Bank

David Monroe was watching, and listening to the radio in his ear. Everything was going to plan. Jerry had planted a dozen pyrotechnics in the docks, and was setting them off, with Lisa and Mickey calling the PRT in a panic about Lung rampaging. That would pull off most of the heroes, and reports of a parahuman attack near Clarendon High with shots fired had the PRT and the cops swarming. It was just another distraction of course, but it would give them the ten minutes they needed. You didn't need parahumans to do a bank job, just good planning.

From the crowd of people, somebody leaped, clearing three rows of people and landing directly in front of him. They stood up and David reflexively triggered a three round burst into their stomach, before he even realized what he was seeing.

He watched in a sort of numb horror as the rounds just hit and fell to the floor. He looked then, at the person even now straightening up to loom over him She was some horrible hybrid of wolf and girl, easily nine feet tall and packed with muscle in places he didn't even have places.

She cocked her head and looked at him for a second, then at his weapon. “Unless you have a much bigger weapon and silver bullets, you can't hurt me, human.” she reached out and he noted in that detached terror that she had claws nearly two inches long, sturdy and very sharp. He released the M-16 to her and froze as she just tossed it in the air and it never came down. Her voice was the first tenor growl he'd ever heard and he was fervently hoping in the back of his head to never hear anything like it again.

“This is my bank, human. Are you trying to steal my money?”

David stared at her for a second and finally got his mouth to work. “I didn't know. I am so sorry.”

“Why don't you tell your friends over there to put their weapons down and then the four of you can go sit on the steps and wait for the police to arrest you.” The wolf girl bent down and sniffed him. “I highly suggest you allow them to arrest you. I have your scent now and if I have to come and find you, no one else ever will.”

David turned slowly to the others who were frozen, just watching the two of them. “Guys, put your weapons down. Let's go wait for the police.”

David was watching Henry. He was the hothead of the group and if anyone was going to start anything, it would be him. The other two had already laid their weapons down and he could see Henry's hands tensing on his rifle.

Before Henry could do anything stupid, the wolf-girl moved. She was a blur, crossing the distance to Henry so fast that David's eyes couldn't keep up. One huge hand reached out and grabbed Henry by the neck, lifting him effortlessly, while the other hand took his rifle as easily as if he wasn't even holding it.

All four of them watched as she simply crumpled the rifle like a tin can in her hand. She brought Henry up to her snout and glared at him from over the mouth full of fangs. A low growl rumbled in her throat before she spoke. “You weren't going to try and shoot me again, were you?”

Henry's only response was to piss himself and pass out. Wolf-girl held him out at arm's length, her nose wrinkling. “Ugh. You two, come get your smelly friend and go outside to wait.”

Marsh and Tom grabbed Henry carefully, making sure not to get too close to the cape. The four of them scuttled outside.

David would never admit he gave thanks to God when there was a cop just pulling up outside.

Fuck Brockton Bay.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: The real name of this law firm is Dewy, Screwum and Howe, but that was a bit too crack for this story.

Chapter Seven  
The Heberts  
Drake, Stewart and Howe Law Offices

“So, to summarize, you want a limited liability company set up with Danny Hebert as the CEO, Annette Hebert as CFO and allowed buy into the company allowed with both of their approvals. You'll start the company with funds of ten million dollars, with supplemental funds as needed. Within two weeks you will be choosing one or more buildings to buy and renovate for factory and warehouse purposes. Is that correct?”

Monroe Howe was a short man of nearly seventy, the senior partner of the firm. Normally, a small start-up company such as this would be handed off to a lesser attorney, but the Heberts were interesting enough to draw his attention. The daughter had a presence about her, one that would mesmerize juries. Danny Hebert was tall and thin, unassuming in all ways. You could pass him on the street without a second glance. Still, he had kept the Dock Worker's Union working for eighteen years after the riots which meant there had to be more to him than met the eye. Monroe would know more after the background check they did on all their clients came back.

He looked over at Annette Hebert again. He had never known Mrs. Hebert before her... absence, and he had no opinion on how she had come back yet, but that was just another interesting thing about these people. He brought his mind back to the here and now. “You do understand that our firm does not deal in Parahuman law or whatever hoops you are going to have to jump through regarding Mrs. Hebert?”

Taylor shook her head. “We didn't come to you for that, I'm leaning toward Quinn Calle for that. He's supposed to be the best for those needs.”

Howe frowned slightly. “He is, despite his... amorality. Don't get me wrong, he's never done anything against the Attorney code of ethics, but he knows very well how to skirt the letter of it.”

Taylor nodded. “I know, that's exactly why I chose him. I need him to tie up the courts until it no longer matters.” She looked at her watch. “I hate to chat and run, but I have someplace to be right now.” She looked at her father. “You can deal with the contracts and paperwork, right?”

Danny sighed. “I was dealing with paperwork before you were born, Taylor. I can do it again. Although, if Lung does anything to you, this company will be the least of my worries, you know.”

Taylor hugged her parents. “He won't, I'm not going in blind.”

Taylor and Lung  
undisclosed location

Lung looked at the bed where his daughter lay, watched over by the nurse that had cared for her for the last thirteen years. He was uncertain about this cape, although the videos and things she had done had given him hope for the first time since Panacea had triggered. Her not being able to do brains had squashed that hope, but this cape supposedly could do brains and more.

For 一愛, (Hana)he was willing to try.

He looked at his phone again. Five minutes until the appointed time. He wondered how punctual the gaijin cape would be. He was about to turn and look at Hana when he felt something, a pressure across his skin. He tensed, looking around as his power began to build up. A second later, the Hebert cape appeared in the middle of the room, far enough away that she was not a threat, and with him between her and his daughter.

The two of them examined each other for a minute. Lung saw the golden tint to her skin and more, he saw the tiny scales that her skin was made of. He was surprised to see that he stared at eyes level with his. He had not realized that she was so tall. She gave him a slight bow, one equal to another.

Lung felt a flash of insult, but let it pass. She was powerful in her own right, and if she could help 一愛, he would accept that she was his equal at least.

“Welcome to my warehouse,” he said, giving her the same bow she had given him. “Be welcome here. Shall we take refreshments?”

Taylor noted the low table and tea set off to one side and nodded. “It would be nice, although I hope you have a Chakai in mind. I have other appointments today and no time to appreciate a Chaji.”

Lung smiled as he led his guest to the table. “Another time, maybe. Manners dictate my actions, but my heart wishes for speed nonetheless.”

They sat down, both choosing to sit seiza. Lung began serving the tea, saying, “I am pleased, but surprised to see you understand tea and Japanese etiquette.”

Taylor demurred, “Understanding is too strong a term. I did some internet searching in preparation for this meeting, and know the basic rules, but that is about it. Perhaps, if we can come to a reasonable agreement today, you would be willing to share some insights.”

They spent some time in the ceremony until Lung set down his cup. “I know you have seen my Hana, would you care to examine her, to see if you can help her?”

“Gomen-nasai, Lung, but I have already done so. I can help her in one of two ways. I will explain them both to you and allow you to choose.”

Lung blinked. He had not felt or seen anything from Taylor. He mentally upped her threat rating if she could work her power with no visible effects while engaging in other actions. “I am listening.”

Taylor sighed. “I can fix her brain. She would be as you see her, but healthy. This has issues, however. She has never learned anything, you would be training in everything she should have learned over the last decade or more. She could learn, she would learn, but it would take many years before she would be approaching normal. This would disturb your peace, which might lead to an angry rage dragon in my home, so you understand I would prefer that this be the second choice.”

Lung nodded. “I can understand that you would feel this way,” he agreed, “and I assume you have another option?”

Taylor nodded. “I can return her to her newborn state as if she had just been born. She would have to be raised as normal, but without the problems of her being fifteen years too old for it.” She smiled slightly. “I can only hope that you would not have the same issues raising your daughter normally.”

Lung considered the matter. A daughter with the mind of a newborn and the body of a teenager. He could see many problems there, but to start fresh, with a daughter that didn't have any issues, other than him having to make the paperwork to give her an ID that matched her age.

“May I ask,” Taylor said, “where her mother is, and if she will be helping you?”

Lung shrugged. “Her mother is dead, in the same attack that so damaged my daughter.”

Taylor frowned. Lung was a parahuman, a gangster, and a killer. He was also a single father, trying to do the best by his daughter. Taylor's problem was that she knew he was going to die, long before the girl grew up right now. No matter which way she healed the girl, Lung would die long before she would have any decent memories of her father, and would only have the stories of other people and the news stories to know him by.

Taylor flexed her will and froze the building in a bubble of suspended time while she thought. Lung was a killer, and his list of crimes meant she had very few qualms about his fate. Hana, on the other hand, was completely innocent of any crime. Her father's actions could not be held against her, and yet Taylor was about to end her father's life.

She didn't even have a mother to take up the slack and raise her when Lung died. Somehow, Taylor didn't think Lung's organization would survive his death, leaving an innocent young girl at the mercy of...who? Who would take in and raise the child of Lung? Loyal gang members, perhaps? Leading her into the same life her father lived? Or would somebody take revenge on her, taking vengeance on her for the crimes of her father?

Taylor had an epiphany then. Killing all the parahumans was a pity, but they were attached to creatures that were dangerous to the whole human race. It was a pity, and not something she liked to think about, but it was necessary. How many would be affected by those deaths though? Children, family, friends?

Logically, it was still the right thing to do. Parahumans were a grain of sand compared to the deaths she was trying to prevent and even the anguish their deaths would cause was nothing compared to the loss of the human race.

Looking at the young girl that she was here to save though, logic held far less weight than emotion. Taylor had been given more power than anything or anyone on Earth, surely she could figure something out? There had to be something she could do. She considered the frozen form of Lung, using the skills and senses she had to see the connection he had with his power and the dimensional twist that led to his power's real resting place. She began simulating different ways of removing his power, of breaking the connection. The first dozen would kill Lung instantly, the next few would leave him brain dead. She stopped and considered the problem some more.

The biggest issue was the two tumor-like structures in the brain. Without the connection to the parasite, they were masses of foreign flesh that didn't belong there. That was not a good thing in the cranium of a human. Was there a way to make them benign tumors? That was something humans could live with. As she tried to simulate changing the tumors, she ran into another problem. The tumors were not standard human DNA bits. That was why removing the parasite's power killed the human it was attached to, the parasite was keeping the tumors from affecting the human.

A bit more thought brought a possible answer. The tumors were parasite bits, coming from another dimension. Taylor knew a dozen ways to block dimensional transfers. She could block the transfer of powers, and then rebuild the host with just the human's DNA, not allowing the parasite to infect the human again. It would take their powers away, but leave them alive.

She rubbed her eyes. How many parahumans would allow her to take their powers? How many would rather die, or fight her, rather than be powerless? She guessed it would take about an hour for each person she treated this way. How many people were there? How many could she treat, before Zion discovered what she was doing, or would it have to be something that would have to wait until after he was gone?

She considered Lung again, looking at the man, not the biological systems she had been examining. Here was a man that had made his life around his power, forged a gang and done what he wanted, with zero remorse and no compassion for anyone but himself.

Perhaps he could be an experiment. Taylor considered what she would have to do, the dangers of it and the information she would have to give him, for him to make a choice. Now, how to ensure he didn't tell anyone else about the story she was about to tell him.

Taylor did what she had to ensure the next conversation with Lung remained with him, that he could not tell anyone about it, write down or enact it in interpretative dance. She blocked everything she could think of, including telepathy and cold reading him. When she was done, she took a deep breath and dropped the time-slowing effect.

“Lung, before you make your decision, I have some more information for you. It starts for me, four days ago, when I was shoved in a locker, but the real story starts well before that, over ten thousand years ago.”

Kurt  
DWU building

“They drove through the docks, didn't stop, didn't do anything unusual, but they managed to cover almost all the main ways in and out.”

Kurt considered the information. “How many does that make?”

“Four that we are sure of. The Undersiders came by, but they've got a base in the old Redfield Welding building and may have just been passing through. The Empire sent a couple of people, but they were very careful to ensure we knew they were there. They packed up that office they were using to watch us and moved everything out. The PRT made their first pass through the docks in six years without there being a parahuman fight, these unknown people. Lung's man is still running the noodle stand, no changes there, but Coil's men are just gone. There's a rumor going around that Coil is dead.” Jason Marley looked at his notes. “We've got three bits of interest from today. Bicycle Bob is complaining that some rough men took over that old warehouse he stays in and he can't get to his tools. I sent a couple of boys to take a careful look. Lung is holed up in his warehouse over on Haven lane, his boys are politely but firmly refusing all entry, and we're trying to confirm a rumor that the Undersiders are talking to lawyers about going legit.”

As he was speaking, his phone went off and Jason checked it. “Well now, this is bad.” He looked up at Kurt. “We got pictures of the two in the van, and they both came back with hits. One is actually a local, George Marls. Local kid, joined the Army out of high school and then joined one of those PMCs.” He checked the phone again. “The other one is also with a PMC, the same one in fact. His employment was on his arrest record.”

Kurt frowned. “Try and find out who is hiring that company right now, and if those two are on leave or working.” He considered this bit of information. Private military companies ranged from thugs with shit weapons to well-disciplined, well-trained mercenaries with top of the line gear. “Put vans one and two in the back of the old Rotger boatyard. Keep crews for both of them in the corral.”

“You know they're going to bitch about that. Sitting around doesn't earn a paycheck.”

Kurt grinned at him. “You haven't heard yet?”

Jason glared at him. “I've been boots on the ground, hunting down all the regulars for the street news for seven hours at this point. When would I have heard your water-cooler gossip?”

“Danny has hired a crew to protect the docks, using a new company that is funded by Taylor.”

“What is the company going to be doing?”

“We're clearing the salvage from the bay. Jackson and Arrons are getting the permits and licenses today. We've got a week to get ready and then Taylor's going to bring a ship or two to the lot between Docks twenty-nine and thirty.”

Jason whistled softly. “How's she going to move them?”

“Have you seen the clips on the net?”

“Huh. I think I might have to be around that day. I want to see this.”

“You and everybody else.”

The Undersiders  
Quentin Calle's Office

Lisa sat and watched as Rachel's story was slowly pulled out of her by an older lawyer, one's whose demeanor and bearing were strong enough to make Bitch behave, mostly. The subject matter didn't help any, but with her pack around her, she was willing to do it.

The Undersiders were going to go legit. Right now, they'd be paid through Fortress Construction, since Lisa controlled it and could control what they did. Lisa and Brian were still debating whether going to another company was better or not. With Fortress, they had control of all their actions and appearances, but they were also in a company that had technically been stolen from the original owner, which could hurt their going legit if it ever came out.

Brian's issues were easily fixed, although it was going to take a lot of lawyer time to get custody of Alisha for him. Her problems were even easier since her lawyer had sent the Livsey's a note stating that if they didn't contest her being emancipated, then the IRS would not have to find out that they had forced an underage thinker to make business decisions for them.

Alec's problems were much worse, but the lawyer working with him was sure they could prove diminished capacity and a whole host of mitigating circumstances. Lisa was more assured that the amount of money they were throwing at the case would find an agreeable judge.

She worked on her laptop while the lawyer talked to Bitch. When the conference was over they started out and saw Taylor Hebert just entering the building. Lisa was surprised when her power actually said something about the girl. Has an appointment, wants a lawyer to deal with Parahuman problems. It is not a parahuman.

Lisa blinked and stared at her as they went by. Taylor looked up at them and stared for a second. She looked away as they got closer, but not before Lisa caught a flash of surprise and then pity from her. Knows all four of us are Parahumans, pities us for (static)

Lisa was still considering that when they got in the car and started towards their new apartments. They still kept the old Redfield Welding base, but they were careful going there until they were cleared or released from the legal problems. She had an urge to find Hebert and talk to her and she was still considering it when they pulled into the garage and she was distracted by Bitch asking about the property she'd purchased for the dogs.

Stryker  
Merchant Headquarters

Stryker glared at the fifteen men and women he'd chosen to lead the various groups of Merchants he had organized into platoons. They had just given him their reports and they were crap, to say the least. He'd known going into this that converting drug addicts and idiots into a decent fighting force was going to be hard, but half of his chosen leaders were slacking off.

He stood up and walked around his desk, pacing up and down in front of the fools as he spoke to them. “It seems to me that you are failing to understand what is at stake here, people. Without capes, we only have one way to keep and gain territory, and that's with combat skills and weapons. I have the weapons, and you were chosen because all of you have at least some military experience. I realize that the people you have do not have the discipline, skill or drive that the average soldier does, but I'm not looking for special forces or Rangers here, just decent grunts that I can issue weapons to without worrying about them being traded for drugs or cash.”

He turned around and glared at them as they shifted uncomfortably. “This is what's going to happen. I am going to motivate you people, and you will in turn go and motivate your people.” He turned again and began walking down the line again. He continued to speak as he went, his left hand loosening the blade at his side. “You will return to your platoons with the information I am about to give you. You will motivate them in whatever way works best for you. If the results of next week's staff meeting are not better than this week's,” he paused as his left hand drew his blade out and slashed it across the first of two throats, taking the second of shocked immobility to cut the second. Before any of the survivors could move his right hand had drawn his sidearm and the cocking of the hammer was loud in the near silence. He waited until the last gasping gurgling sound died out from the two bodies on the floor. He was making sure none of the others were going to attack him. He decocked the firearm and slipped it back into its holster.

“Pay very close attention, people. I lifted you to the position you hold. Do the job well, you get more, more money, more drugs, more people under you. However, a failure that is your fault has penalties. If Glory Hole fucks your people, no foul. If you can't get your people motivated, that's on you and someone under you will be promoted to your previous spot. Is that understood?”

He listened to the ragged chorus of “Yes Sir” and nodded. “Pete, you and Danyelle here inform these two's platoon that the Sergeant is now the Lieutenant, and make sure you inform them why. You all have one week to show some improvement in your training goals. Dismissed.”

As they filed out the door, he gave one last order. “Alicia, get my orderly in here to clean up the mess.”

As his orderly came in, he walked out. “Going to do inspections. Clean it up, dump the bodies in Alpha six and go ahead and go for the rest of the day, but remember to keep your damn phone on. If I can't reach you when I need you again, I'll never need you again.”

Buran 'Stryker' Mars walked out of the Merchant headquarters and got into his car, a nondescript Ford sedan that would surprise a lot of people if they looked under the hood or the sheet metal. Since he had no intention of allowing that, he didn't worry about it. As usual, he waited until he was at least a mile away before using the hands-free unit in his car. “Call Addiction.”

“Hello?”

“Stryker. Are the next batches ready yet?”

“Yeah, just like always. That other project is-”

“Shut up. We only discuss that in person.”

He hung up and thought. He'd have to go see the Merchant chemist tinker soon. It sounded like he had something to report about one of the projects Stryker had him working on. In the meantime, he made another call.

“Killshot.”

“You were right. How many trained people can we use for this operation?”

“We've got four teams of seven ready to go now, and the platoon size element will be ready in two weeks. Are you ready to go?”

“Almost. We'll kick off Operation Destruction in two weeks. With the merchants acting strange and carrying the kind of firepower we'll be giving them, no one will be surprised that some of their missions actually work. Once we have everyone's attention here, you can do your part there.”

“Two weeks, huh? Good. I was going crazy just training. What about that new cape? She seems to be a bit of a ballbuster.”

“Yes, but I figure the same thing that will work on Lung will work on her, and it's not like we care if there are ten blocks of the city missing, or twenty blocks.”

“True enough. You have everything you need?”

“Yes. I'll be holding regular updates unless something changes between now and then. I know you will know when to do your part.”

“If not, I'm sure Heartbreaker's little minion will be glad to inform me if I happen to be in the shower when the threshold is reached.”

“True. Watch yourself around that one. We need them now, but afterward...”

“Yeah, afterward, they do have bounties on them and we're going to spend a crapload of money on this.”

“Good idea. Stryker out.”

Taylor and Lung  
The warehouse

Lung considered everything he had been told over the last three hours and sighed. “You have spun a tale right out of an anime from my homeland, something that should have a theme song and voice-overs. And yet, I cannot dismiss it as fantasy, since you have proven so much. Your friend is destroying powers, all the powers at their source, and that is why so many have fallen and are dying for no reason anyone on Earth can tell.”

Taylor nodded soberly. Watching Lung's responses as she told and showed him the plan had been eye-opening. Lung was very controlled, but even his composure had slipped when she told him what the source of powers was and what would happen to the Earth, all the Earths when the creature was done.

“So, when you kill Scion, more powers will die and at that point, you and your friend will be able to find them all easily and finish killing them, so that this cycle never happens again?”

Taylor nodded. “Each bit of the creatures can bud off and make more bits. Since the creature is only a collection of bits, sooner or later, if we leave one alive, it will become a new creature and start everything all over again.” She rubbed her eyes. “I don't know of any way to stop the cycle, other than killing them all.”

“Yet killing all the bits means killing whatever human they have attached to.”

Taylor looked at him. “Yes, and no, I think.” Lung merely raised one eyebrow in silent inquiry. “I have examined you, as I did your daughter and there may be a way to keep the human alive. I don't know that it will work, as it is an untested hypothesis right now. I need a parahuman, one that is willing to give up their powers, for something better.” Taylor stared at him pointedly.

Lung stilled. “You are asking me to give up everything that allows me to keep my people safe, that allows me to control half the city, for what?”

“A chance to see your daughter grow up, to graduate high school, to be married, without the fear of another attack on you killing her? What is more important to you, Lung? Your daughter or power?”

“I have enemies. Without my power, I cannot protect her. It is not as simple as you make it out to be.”

Taylor considered that. “True enough, though I can fix that if you are willing to become a law-abiding citizen.”

“And when the PRT or the law comes looking for me, do you think they will ignore my past?”

“I am less than concerned about the PRT, as when I am done, they will have no justification for harassing you, and any attempt will only add to your resources after we sue them. Although, to be honest, after I am done, no one will be able to connect you to the cape known as Lung.”

“You do realize that you are asking me to change my everything, right? My name, my life, everything?”

“I do,” Taylor said quietly, “but if you do not do this thing, in the next ten years at most, you will be dead. Those are your options. It is up to you if you want to be a father for the next hundred years or a gang leader for five years.”

Lung sipped his tea, mind busy, worrying at the problem. This child had opened a door into space, holding the vacuum out by sheer will, shown him the earth from orbit, and even done a dozen things in the warehouse that showed a depth of powers such as not even Eidolon had. Add the fact that she brought her mother back to life, and Lung had few doubts about her power. There was the chance that she was some sort of Master, however, only making him believe what he had seen. He was trying to think of a way to confirm that when a thought crossed his mind. He looked at the girl across from him. “I must think on this, and I need one final bit of proof, that you can do what you say you can do.”

Taylor sighed. “What more would convince you?” she asked, slightly exasperated at the time this was taking. “Should I steal a feather from Ziz for you?”

Lung blinked. “While it would make an interesting mantelpiece, I think not. I have no wish for her to target me or mine. No, you wish to take my powers, to change me beyond the ability of any man to connect my new being with Lung. I would ask, could you fix Oni Lee?”

“I don't know what is wrong with him, so I cannot say.”

Lung explained how his powers diminished him over time, rendering him less and less of what he was. “Once, long ago, he was just another man, a mix of good and bad, but as his power steals his mind, he holds only the reoccurring bits of his life, and I know that sooner or later he will be lost, just a killing machine until somebody puts him down.”

Taylor considered the situation. If she could fix him, one way or another, she would have gotten both the ABB capes off the streets in one day. What would that do to the Bay, though? She thought about it for a bit. “Bring him here. I will need to examine him to see how best I can help him.”

The next twenty minutes passed in silence, both people thinking about all they had learned over the course of their talk. Taylor felt the presence of Lee while he was still two blocks away and felt him appear on the roof, where he peered into a skylight and teleported to Lung's side, barely sparing Taylor a glance as he waited for his orders.

Lung looked at his oldest living friend, who had sworn loyalty to him, who had used his power, trusting Lung to take care of him even as he forgot why. “Can you return him to what he was?”

Taylor examined the man?.. being in front of her and was shocked to her core at what she found. He was barely a thinking being, running mostly on Lung's orders and a certain animal cunning in battle. She could see what he had been once, and the sheer disparity between what he had been and what he was now was horrible. She turned an accusing eye on Lung. “How could you let him do this?”

“I didn't realize what was happening for some time, and by the time I did figure it out, he was already so far gone that he wanted to continue, to forget that he had once been so very much more than he was. All I could do was promise to look after him until his death, or whatever came to him because of his power.”

“I will fix him, but not for you. This is for the man he was before he triggered with powers and became this thing.”

Lung nodded. “Oni Lee, this person is going to heal you. Stand still, do not resist.”

Taylor stood up and faced Oni Lee even as he turned to face her, his eyes as blank as any store mannequin. She took a deep breath and released her power, cocooning Oni Lee in her power, concentrating on the essence of the man he had been. When she was sure she had his essence firmly in her metaphysical grasp, she spent the power that would anchor him, protect him from another bit of the creatures and simultaneously rebuilt his body, eliminating the tumors in his brain, rebuilding his body to what it could be. She changed a few things along the way, changing his fingerprints, altering his DNA just enough that no match could be made with anything the PRT might have in their database. She checked him over swiftly, not wanting to make a mistake with the poor soul before her, a man that had not had an original thought in more than a decade. She merged the new body and the essence she held together and released him as soon as she felt higher thought beginning in his mind.

Sora blinked and tensed, not recognizing his surroundings or the Gajiin girl in front of him. He looked around and stopped. Kenta stood there, looking at him. “Kenta,” he said softly, “what happened to you?” He reached up and felt the mask he wore, pulling it off without a second thought. “You look different.”

“My friend, do you remember your name?”

“I am Yoshitsune Sora, as I was yesterday and will be tomorrow, Kenta. Why do you ask such a question?”

“Patience, old friend. Allow me one more question and I will explain everything. Where were you born?”

Sora stared at his friend bemusedly. “I was born in Nayoro, on the island of Hokkaido in Japan as you know full well, Kenta. You've had your one more question. Now, what's going on?”

Taylor sat back down and drank some tea while Lung and Sora had a long conversation in Japanese. She could have listened in, but this felt like something private, between the two men. She overheard enough to get the gist of the conversation, Lung telling the man what had happened to him and why. She was fairly certain that Lung was begging his friend's pardon for not realizing sooner what was happening to him, but she spent most of her time going over what she'd done to Sora.

It seemed to be working, although she would not know if her dimensional lock on him was going to work unless a bit tried to trigger him again and either failed or succeeded. She locked the pattern she'd used down in her mind and began refining it, making it easier to use, faster and less 'throw power at it' and more a refined spell to contain and direct the energy.

Sometime later, the two men joined her and she pulled out of her thoughts. Lung took off his mask and gave her a much deeper bow than he had before. “I thank you for the return of my friend.”

Sora glanced at Lung and rolled his eyes. “I didn't even know I was gone. I have vague memories of the last decade or so but thank you for bringing me back to myself and excuse my overly muscled friend, his brains are squeezed into formality by all the meat on him.”

Kenta turned his head slowly, looking at Sora. “I had forgotten that your tongue was as sharp as your knives,” he said acerbically, “maybe we need a sparring session to refresh both our memories.”

Taylor watched bemused as the two men made a few more biting comments at each other. She could feel the intense emotions both of them were hiding, but not a hint of them showed on their faces. Lung finally turned to her. “Sora is going to collect some things and funds for us. I would ask that you change me, as you did him and return my daughter to before her injury. We will all three start afresh, with no physical baggage from the past.”

Taylor nodded. “When you get settled in if you ever need a job, the Dockworker's Union will be hiring soon.”

Lung smiled faintly. “I do not think that will be needed, but I will remember the offer.” He looked torn for a minute. “What will you do with the rest of my gang?”

Taylor sighed. “Hopefully, there will soon be enough work in the bay that many of the gang members will find honest work. They will fall apart without you, and normally, Kaiser would move in and destroy everything that doesn't fit his vision. I think I can prevent that though.”

Lung nodded. “I have seen enough of your power that I don't doubt you, but how will you stop him?”

Taylor grinned. “All these years, the only thing that kept the DWU from being a gang on the order of the ABB, the Empire or the PRT was their lack of capes.”

Lung stared at her for a minute and began to laugh. “I would love to see Kaiser's face when he hears that you will back the DWU.”

Lung answered his phone while Taylor was thinking about the wild idea she'd had. “Oni... Sora has collected the things we needed. We can begin at any time.”

Taylor nodded. “I'm going to do you first since I need a sample of your new DNA to match your daughter to you.”

Lung nodded and Taylor reached out with her new spell and wrapped Lung in her power, just as she had Oni Lee. She released her power and knew almost instantly that she had made a mistake. The energy she'd used on Oni Lee had been filtered through her, coming out much closer to human-level power. This spell was straight from where ever the energy came from and had no such filter on it.

For the twenty-seven seconds it took to work, Taylor could feel the agony Lung was going through as his entire being was consumed, dimension locked and rebuilt into the new Kenta. When it was done, Taylor double checked everything and released Kenta, who sank to one knee. “Tell me,” he said hoarsely, “That Hana will not feel that way, or she can stay as she is.”

Taylor lifted her hand and sent a beam of light to play over Kenta, erasing all physical traces of the pain, leaving only the memory of it. “No, she will not, Oni Lee did not feel like that either. I must apologize, Lung. I took the power I used to heal Oni Lee and while you two were talking I made a spell of it. I didn't realize until I used it on you that the same effect on Oni Lee was filtered through my touch, while what you got was straight from the source.”

Lung stood up and stared at her for a long minute. “You pull energy from nowhere to work with, one that can do anything, and is changed by the touch of a human?”

Taylor thought about it. “Yes, basically. Why?”

Lung smiled faintly. “I have heard those stories in my youth, of the Miko and the power they held from the gods. I never thought that such as I would be touched by it.”

Taylor blinked at him and her eyes widened in horror. She was about to begin rapidly explaining that there were no god powers here, thank you very much when she felt the amusement bubbling up in Kenta. She looked at him again and saw the glint of amusement in his eye. “You are an asshole, Lung.”

“My name, for you, will always be Kenta.”

Taylor bowed slightly, acknowledging the honor he offered. “Let's heal your daughter then, Kenta, and you can begin your new life.”

As the walked to where the nurse waited quietly with Hana, Kenta looked at his arms. “What happened to my tattoos?”

Taylor stopped and stared at him in disbelief. “What part of rebuilt from the DNA up did you not understand?”

Kenta frowned. “Huh. I didn't think of that,” he said, looking at his arms again. “Well, at least you gave me a clean slate to start over.”

Taylor had to resist the impulse to tie-die the dratted man.

Panacea  
Brockton Bay General Hospital

Amy was idly wondering who would come to talk to her about Taylor Hebert and her mother from the PRT because she was sure somebody was going to come by. Her mind went back to Annette and the strangeness of no cells more than three days old in her entire body. The thought crossed her mind that that might be a way around her need for biomass. If she just changed a few cells at a time... Amy thought about a different way to use her powers until she was done eating and left for her rounds with a new sense of interest.

Dragon  
Canada

Dragon went over the equations Taylor Hebert had given her again, trying to puzzle out just how they tied together. She had a serious urge to ask about the math that explained her power set when they met tomorrow. The tablet Armsmaster was so carefully examining was a work of art. No wasted space, fast and efficient, it was just beautiful. She had spent nearly twenty minutes talking to Asimov earlier and come away disappointed. He was exactly what he said he was, an assistant, with no thoughts of his own. As far as she could tell, he was literally incapable of doing anything he hadn't been told to do, even if you had to be careful about how you phrased the orders, as Taylor's error with the firewalls showed.

Still, if Miss Hebert had anything half as good as this tablet that could be made with existing tools and machines, they could build up until Dragon could make these tablets and all their parts, which really interested her because the processors in the tablet were nearly three times as good as her current best.

Dragon sank into daydreams of better electronics as she monitored the PHO boards. Tomorrow was going to be a very important day. She directed the suit she would be using tomorrow to the area where she put the finishing touches on her suits and checked it for scratches and buffed it up one last time.

She didn't want to look bad for this meeting after all.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I finally resorted to laying out the mapboard my GM uses and gaming out the entire scene one step at a time. Then I would write what happened at that time, and do the next movement, write, move, etc. Then I took all that writing and condensed it in to this. I sincerely hope that I never have to do this again, ever. That said, here, at long last is the Dock Fight.

The Mercenaries  
Abandoned Warehouse

David Jasper took the final orders from Saint and led his men to the vans. “Mac, take the Intel van and set up. You know what to do. Keep a close eye on the PRT freqs.” He looked at the rest. “Time to earn our pay, gentlemen. Move out.”

As they drove away in the three vans, David keyed up his mike. “Radio check.” After getting a response from everyone he started talking. “Gentlemen, this mission can easily turn into a clusterfuck. Remember your orders, follow my instructions, and win or lose, we’ll all come out of this alive. We will not be engaging Taylor Hebert for any reason. If she shows up, we will surrender on the spot, and use her taking us into custody to keep her occupied which will satisfy the needs of this mission.”

He checked their route. Five minute from the warehouse they were going to occupy. “Remember the chemicals, men, and don’t give any of the dockworkers any reason to use that shit. Beanbags, rubber rounds, flashbangs and teargas are the munitions of the day. I am the only one that can call weapons free. If I need to do that, I will call it three times. Xavier, that means you cannot claim to have misheard me. Shoot somebody today without my permission and I will kill you.”

George cut in. “Captain, the warehouse is ahead, but we’ve got an issue. There’s a security group around a warehouse two blocks down, we’re going to be seen as soon as we start.”

David frowned. “Nothing we can do about it. Team one, that means you have a three minute time limit to get the defenses up. Team two, get upstairs and set the nests up double time. I want us buttoned up and secured in five minutes or less.”

He waited until all three vans were on the road in front of their target. “Floor it. Mission starts now.”

The three vans blew into the parking lot of the target and Jackson popped out of the lead van and had the rolling door open in a minute. All three vans disappeared inside. In side, team one was lugging large machines to the walls. Each machine was the size of a portable generator, about three foot by four feet, and had the same wheels and folding handle. One was set in the middle of each wall and one more on the roll up doors and loading dock doors in the back of the building. Once all of them were in place, a larger machine, nearly five foot square, was set up in the middle of the room and turned on.

The satellite machines lit up and a force field covered the walls to a height of seven feet. The Tinker tech field was great for reinforcing walls, but it was an energy hog and couldn’t be moved while running. Its other problem was that taking down any one side killed the entire thing, which is why the PRT had passed on it.

For their purposes today though, it was fine. David checked his watch. Two minutes thirty since entry. “Team two, how’s it going?”

“Five nests up, last one in twenty seconds. The security team down the road is watching us, but holding their position.”

“Roger that, remember, we are only defending this position, no shooting at anyone not assaulting this building.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Captain, radio chatter is light, the Dockworkers are calling their own security, not the police or the PRT. As far as I can tell, they haven’t even notified the law yet.”

“Any idea what they are mobilizing?”

“Negative. They are simply calling them Mobile four and six.”

“Keep me informed about any changes.” David looked around. The building was as complete as a rapid deployment defense could do. Now, it was time to add the extra touches. “George, you and Joe wire the human sized doors to a taser charge, one charge per door and hang a noise maker on them. Billy, wire the rest of the doors to noise makers. Xavier, you and Mutley set the cameras in the windows. Stream the data to Mac.” He keyed his radio. “Mac, as soon as that data gets to you, I want to know about any blind spots. Use the software this time.”

“Roger that, Captain. Mobile four is asking about a sewer, I’m hacking city hall records now.”

David looked at the floor and spotted a large cover sheet on the floor, by the wall closest to the bay. “Donald, park the van on that plate.”

“Captain, two armoured vans just pulled into the parking lot.”

David moved to a window and looked out. The two vans were nose out about halfway into the parking area. The back doors of both lowered, and David swore. There was a steel plate of unknown thickness inside each door. As he watched, four small portholes opened in one and four rifle barrels slid out. In the other van, a larger porthole opened up and a disturbingly familiar barrel poked out of it.

“Watch those vans, they’ve got a Mark 19 in the one on the left.”

“Captain, those snipers appear to be using BFG-50As. Semi-auto, ten rounds.”

“What the hell are dockworkers doing with that kind of firepower?” Joe’s question was answered by George, the Brockton Bay native.

“They’re holding off three gangs of capes. I’m surprised they don’t have more, honestly.” He grunted suddenly. “Son of a bitch. Captain, I forgot about it, but there were rumours back when the ships were being sunk that one of them was loaded with military hardware bound for some third world country, but it was only a rumour; nothing was ever found or proven.”

David closed his eyes, resisting the urge to shoot George. “Judging by the Mark 19 and sniper rifles out there, I would say the rumour is proven, although I would have liked to know abut this before we invaded a military compound.” He considered how this changed his plans. Unless the dockworkers started shooting, it didn’t really. Once they started shooting, he would have to make changes. He checked his watch. They had to hold the Dockworker’s attention for thirty six more minutes to complete their mission. Time to try and burn some more time. “Mac, anything on the law channels yet?”

“Negative, Captain. Just one call to the PRT, regarding a sighting of Victor near ABB territory.”

George broke in. “What part of the ABB territory?”

“Ninth and Schooner lane, why?”

“That’s only a dozen blocks away, on the edge of the Dockworker’s area and well away from any Empire area. What’s he doing there?”

David checked his people and their deployments. Everything was ready, even if they hadn’t been counting on military hardware. He moved to the front and looked out again. He blinked as the passenger side door of one of the vans opened up and a very big blond man got out. He was tall enough to make David wonder how he fit in the cab in the first place. The man started walking towards the warehouse. “Hold fire, everyone. Delaying tactics first. I’ll talk to him.”

The big blond approached to within fifty feet of the door and stopped. “Pardon me,” he said mildly, “Can I have a word with you?”

David looked at the rest of the Dock workers, who were watching but not paticularly tense. He keyed the force-field release on the small door in the front of the warehouse and stepped outside. The two men evaluated each other in silence for a minute. The big man was the first to speak. “You have occupied a warehouse in the care of the local Union. Do you have permission from the owners to use that building?”

David noted the careful speech of a person using a second or third language absently, while wondering for a second if he could bluff for a few more minutes. Discarding that idea he shook his head. “No. We will be here for forty-six minutes and then we’ll be gone. I’m afraid I cannot say any more than that.”

The big man frowned. “Can not, or will not?”

“Cannot. We don’t need to fight here. You can surround the building all you want. We will not fight, unless somebody attempts to enter the warehouse. In,” he checked his watch, “forty-four minutes we will break down our gear and leave.”

“My name is Sven Kaldre. You are David Jasper, captain of a PMC currently working for the Dragonslayers. Dragon is currently meeting with one of our people just down the road. You will understand that I am very worried about a merc group in a warehouse less than three blocks from Dragon. The potential for mistakes or attacks here is very high, certainly since Saint and his people are also in town.”

David took a deep breath. Saint was going to get an earful if they survived this debacle. He hadn’t said shit about Dragon being in town, let alone her being within firing range of the chosen building. Maybe it was time to find a new employer. “I see your point,” he said, giving every indication of thinking about it, trying to run the clock down some more. “I realize you have no reason to believe me, but my employer told me absolutely nothing about Dragon being in town, nor is it my habit to engage capes without far heavier weapons than I have now.” He indicated the rifle slung over his shoulder. “May I show you something?”

Sven pulled a radio off his belt. “Stand easy, the captain is going to show me something, he is not hostile at this time.” He waited for the acknowledgment and nodded to David.

David slowly pulled the magazine from the weapon and showed the rounds inside to Sven. “Rubber rounds. Annoying, but only dangerous to humans with a bad shot placement, say an eye, temple, some soft area. If I were fighting a Dragon suit today, these would be the last rounds I would be using.” David shrugged. “My intel was that I would be holding the building against dockworkers, armed with makeshift weapons and tools for the most part, so we brought less than lethal ammo.” He put the magazine back in the weapon. He checked his watch again. “Forty-one minutes. I am more than willing to stand here and talk to you for the entire time if you wish.”

“Sven! The DWU is under attack by capes! We need the vans now.”

The blond man snarled, glaring at David. He raised his radio. “Send all the mobiles except four and ten. Alisha and ten will stay with Verechelen and Dragon. Mark and four will stay here. I will be in six, moving now.” He glared at David. “You were a distraction,” he said bluntly. “If none of our people are hurt, you will be allowed to leave when this is over. Any attempt to leave before I get back will be met with violence.”

David nodded, but the big man was already moving towards the vans. David watched as the sniper van closed the back door. As soon as Sven was in it, it shot out of the lot, moving further into the docks.

The other van re-positioned to cover the front of the warehouse and the exit of the parking lot. David went back inside. “Mac, what’s the word?”

“The Union channels are going nuts, they’ve called in eight of those vans and someone named Kurt ordered ‘the soup’ readied.”

David winced. He didn’t know for sure, but given that a merc company occupying a warehouse didn’t get a ‘soup’ order, he was fairly certain he knew what that was. He had zero intention of finding out if the stuff was as dangerous as it was made out to be. He thought for a minute. “Guys, I think this is about to go all sorts of wrong. We’re not going to play this game any more. Saint didn’t tell us that Dragon was meeting with the DWU and somebody named Verechelen in that position down the road. I’m calling this one a bust.”

“Captain, according to the net, Verechelen is the cape name Taylor Hebert has taken. Saint and his people have landed at the DWU building and sent the little suit inside. The other mobile units are converging and it doesn’t look good for Saint. Remember those little sheds all around the main building? Four of them turned out to be heavily armoured firing points. From the sounds of it, they’re shooting at Saint with M-2s.”

David swore. “Men, the client failed us on several points, including forgetting to mention that Dragon would be here. Given the way he tracks Dragon, I don’t see how he could have failed on that bit of intel. The amount and type of armament the DWU has isn’t on him, but rushing this job so we couldn’t do a proper evaluation is. Does anyone disagree that he failed in the terms of the contract?”

Xavier was the only one that spoke up. “I agree he failed, Captain, but we can still pull off our portion of the mission. We wait and then come out firing. They’ll be bored of watching the building by then, and busy worrying about how the rest of their people are doing against Saint. As long as we keep that Mk-19 suppressed, we can get out of their area.”

David considered the idea. There was only the one van, and some smoke and tear gas should take it out of commission, since he hadn’t seen any sign of protective masks from the dock workers yet.

“Status change, Captain, PRT inbound, fifteen minutes, led by Armsmaster, Assault and Battery.” There was a pause. “From the radio chatter, Dragon called them in when Verechelen went to engage Saint.”

“Roger that, Mac. Get the van out of town, wait for my call.” David sighed. This was going to tank their reputation, damn it. “Guys, anyone think we can fight our way out past Armsmaster and his crew?” There was silence on their radios. “Break everything down, put it away. If we get a chance to run, we’ll take it, but we’re not fighting for a lost cause today.”

As the men began the task of packing up the gear David walked over to the door he had used before and stepped out. He noted the swiveling of the small camera periscope on the van, how it spun towards him and then continued a slow turning to cover the entire area. He walked slowly towards the van and a Hispanic woman got out, slinging an older lever action rifle over her shoulder.

They met at the halfway point. “My people are out of this,” David said. “The contractor failed to provide proper intel, rushed the job and violated our contract. We’re done. After Sven returns, we’ll drive away. Until then, we’ll stay in the warehouse.”

Samantha Martinez evaluated him carefully. David noted the thousand and one signs that said career military in her dress and bearing and then caught the gleam of a glass eye, which explained why she wasn’t in uniform anymore. He tried to recall anyone he’d heard of that she could be and failed. Even with the downsizing of the military these days, there were still too many for anyone to know them all.

“You’re a Marine, aren’t you?”

“I am. David Jasper. You’re an officer also, I think. Army?”

“Yes. I was a captain during the Eagleton attack. I’m Samantha Martinez.”

David Jasper nodded. Few people had made it out of the Machine Army zone and the fighting had been fierce, with only Nilbog being worse. He watched her stare at him for a minute. “What?”

“You’re ending your contract with Saint, I take it?” At his nod she smiled. “You have a problem, then. This mission is going to ruin your reputation, despite the circumstances and I don’t imagine your crew is cheap. Your intel guy is very good. We haven’t managed to pin him down yet.” She gave him a sharp look. “Anyone on your team wanted, or just plain trouble?”

David gave her a look. This sounded like the beginnings of negotiation. “No one on my crew is currently wanted and only one might be trouble, although I keep him on a short leash.”

The woman nodded. “The DWU is about to expand. We’re going to need trained teams that can follow orders, stay calm and defend known areas. There may be capes involved, on both sides. It will get bloody, I think. DWU security may not pay as well as active fighting, but it comes with union benefits and is entirely legal work. Interested in talking about it?”

David was about to answer when a sound rang out across the bay, a bellow or such rage that his weapon was in his hands before he thought. He noted that Martinez had her rifle in her hands just as fast. “What the hell was that?”

Martinez was listening to her radio. “I don’t know, yet, unless Lung is rampaging again.”

Another roar came, ending in a sound like a giant blowtorch. “I think I’ll wait to make a decision until we find out how this ends.” He flashed her a quick smile. “I’d hate to say yes only to find out there were no docks to defend.”

The Dragonslayers  
Abandoned warehouse

Saint looked at the Mercenaries. “You have your orders, move out. We need you in place by three thirty.” The captain nodded and led his people out. A few minutes later the sounds of their vans faded away as they left.

Saint turned back to Mags and Dobrynja. “We’ll give them thirty minutes to get in position and take off. Mags, your suit is the only one that will fit inside the building. You’ll go in and bring the Heberts out while we cover the outside. When you bring them out, Dobrynja will take them away while I talk to the Hebert girl. You get back to the base and start breaking everything down to go. After I deal with the Hebert girl, we’ll be leaving as quickly as we can. We can’t afford to have the local PRT stopping us.”

The next few minutes were a calming and familiar ritual. Mags’ suit was a smaller suit, more like power armour than anything else and getting in was occasionally an issue, but today everything went smoothly. She ran her eye over the HUD and the status lights there. Solid green. She checked her only two weapons, the variable intensity taser and the shoulder mounted laser. Capable enough weapons, for most things, but the true use of this suit was in the armour and maneuverability. Nothing a bunch of dock workers was going to have around would penetrate it and she could enter most buildings.

When she was ready to go Mags watched Saint and Dobrynja suit up. Their suits were bigger, with Dobrynja’s suit meant for S class fights or Endbringers. The massive suit had four missile pods, two rotary Gatling guns and two lasers. The flamethrower that sprouted from it’s mouth was an afterthought.

Saint’s suit was in between the other two, being an earlier model, the first one they had liberated from Dragon intact. It’s advantage in any fight lay in it’s speed and countermeasures, which the other two suits lacked. It still had a Gatling gun, but no missiles and the flamethrower was replaced with a pulse laser.

The two of them finished and Mags directed the Dragonslayers without suits yet to start packing the heavier equipment up, leaving only the emergency kits out, in case one of them were damaged.

A short comms check later, and the three of them filed out of the doors at three thirty precisely. The two larger suits extruded their wings and they took off, flying low and fast, wanting to give as little warning as possible to the targets.

At three thirty-four, they landed in front of the union hall and Mags started towards the doors while Dobrynja and Saint turned to face away from each other, covering all the approaches to the building. She pointed her taser at the first person she saw. “Where is Danny Hebert?”

The Asian man she was threatening pointed down the hallway. “Go down the hall, take the second right. Head of Hiring is the third door on the left.” He hesitated and then sighed. “I do not recommend that you go there. Leave, before bad things happen to you.”

Mags snorted. She was in one of the finest suits ever made. No dock worker would have anything to damage it. She still tasered the man, just for his arrogance. Following his instructions, she was surprised when alarms started going off before she hit the first corner. She saw a few people as she turned the corner, but they were all ducking into rooms and clearing the hallway, so she didn’t bother tasering any of them. She found the door marked head of hiring and knocked it down. Inside, an older woman she didn’t recognize was on the phone. Mags pointed her taser at the woman. “Where’s Hebert?”

The woman examined her long enough that Mags was about to taser her when the intercom on her desk sounded. “Send her in, Devorah. I’ll deal with her.”

The woman shook her head and pressed a button on the intercom. “Yes, Danny, but this one is going to be trouble, you make my words, young man.” She looked at Mags. “Mr. Hebert has allowed you entry.” She frowned at the suit, looking at the floor. “Don’t you go dripping no fluids on the floor. In my day, people knew enough to leave their vehicles outside, where they belong.”

Mags stared at her for a second, feeling an unwilling respect for anyone willing to snark at a power armoured intruder. She shook her head and opened the door to Hebert’s office.

Danny Hebert was standing behind his desk, watching her. “You’re a Dragonslayer, aren’t you? What do you want with the union?”

“Nothing. I want you and your wife.”

Danny stared at her. “This is something to do with Taylor then?” They both froze at the sounds of a battle sounded from outside. Mags recognized the sounds of the two suits that had come with her, but there was a lot of firing going on outside that wasn’t them.

“Mags, have you got them yet? They’ve got fortified hard points out here.”

“I’ve got the man, but not his wife.”

Danny was looking at her and the look in his eye gave her a second’s pause. “Where is your wife? If I have to ask again, I will kill every person we come across on the way out and set fire to the building.”

Danny hesitated, and before he could speak, the intercom sounded again. “I am in the break room, I’ll meet you in the hall. If you hurt any of the union people, you will not live to regret it.”

Danny sighed. “Damn it, Annette.”

The two walked out into the hallway and Annette was waiting for them at the end of the hall. She looked at the power suit contemptuously. “You’re a fool to attack Taylor. She will end you.”

Mags rolled her eyes in the suit. “She’s an outed tinker, who hasn’t had the time to build shit. We have three battlesuits made by Dragon to face Endbringers. Somehow, I think you are wrong.”

Annette raised an eyebrow. “A Tinker? Is that what you think Taylor is?” She shook her head. “Never mind. You are too stupid to be allowed to run around.”

Danny sighed again. He loved Annette, but there was a reason she had run with Lustrum. “Honey,” he suggested mildly, “let’s not insult the cape wearing power armour, OK? She may be as volatile as some of your previous acquaintances.”

Annette glared at Mags and shrugged. “I warned them.” She took Danny’s hand as they led the suited figure out of the building. “So, what do you want for dinner tonight? I was thinking that little Thai place near the boardwalk.”

Danny looked at her. “The E88 burned it down about three months ago, it’s not completely rebuilt yet.”

Annette frowned. “I liked that place.” She blinked a couple of times. “No one has burned down Steve’s book store, have they?”

Danny couldn’t help but laugh. Annette had been dead, still wasn’t legally alive and she was being kidnapped, but her concern was for her favorite bookstore. He kissed the side of her head as they approached the main doors. “Never change, Annette.”

Mags stopped them before they stepped outside. She frowned at what she saw out there. There were a dozen or so little sheds around the parking lot and four of them were firing machine guns at the two suits in the middle of the parking lot. It didn’t appear that the guns were doing any real damage to the bigger suits, but the suits weren’t doing much damage to the sheds. Mags used a telescopic vision mode and saw why. The front side of each of the sheds was at least five or six inches thick and appeared to be solid steel, with only a small firing port to allow the barrel to poke out. The suits were tearing up the sheds, but it was going to take a while to shred all that steel, and they didn’t have time for this.

“Saint, I’ve got the Heberts.”

“Good. Give me a minute here. Dobrynja, shut your side down, hard.”

“You got it.”

The sheds had been designed to stop the gangs, not Dragon designed battle suits and as soon as Dobrynja started firing missiles at them, the armour that had held up against Gatling guns failed. In short order all four had been blown into pieces.

Mags pushed the two Heberts out the door. Saint met them at the steps and scanned then both. “Perfect. Dobrynja, take these to two to point Alpha. If you have a problem, take them to point Charlie. Mags, get back and do what you have to do. I’ll wait here for the girl.”

Dobrynja reached for the side of the suit and a slot opened up, extruding a box about two foot square. He set it down and it opened up, becoming a rectangular box about seven feet long by four wide. “It’s an emergency evac unit for battle casualties. It will hold you both.”

Danny and Annette looked at each other and Danny helped Annette into the box. Before he got in, he looked at Dobrynja. “You would be better served if you left now. You have no idea what kind of trouble you are starting.” Dobrynja just gestured and Danny climbed in the metal box with Annette.

Mags had already taken off and Dobrynja took off after securing the box to his suit with clamps. Saint looked up as two vans came around the corner. They came to a stop and ignored him to start treating the people that had been injured when they came in and started shooting.

Two more vans showed up, and Saint’s sensors caught more prepping things around a couple of corners. A large Native American man came from one of the vans. “What are you still here for?” His tone was curt and angry.

“I want to talk to Taylor Hebert. Get her here. And before you or she does anything stupid, we have her parents.”

The man glared at him. “You have no idea how badly you fucked up.” He pulled a radio from his belt. “Alisha, Tell Taylor there’s a man who claims to have her parents waiting to talk to her in front of the union hall.”

“Roger that, Mike.”

Mike was already backing up to his van, passing instructions to the others to hurry up and get everyone out of the area.

Kurt  
The Docks

“Kurt, three vans just pulled into the old Davidson warehouse. They’re ignoring warehouse four so far.”

“Get four and six out there, send seven to Alisha to reinforce.” Kurt looked at the map in the building they kept the vans in. The warehouse they were in was nothing important, and only the fact that Taylor and Dragon were close made this important at all. The phone rang and Billy, the mechanic that kept the vans running answered it.

He hung up and moved to the Map. He took a small pin with a white head and a flag on it and placed it on the map. “Victor sighting.”

Kurt was frowning at it, trying to figure out what Victor was doing in ABB territory when the radio sounded again. “Kurt, we’ve got some sort of mobile interference. Computer says most likely cause is an active measures surveillance unit. We’re trying to pinpoint it, but it’s moving very randomly.”

“Keep an eye on it, and set the computer to figuring out who’s in the warehouse.”

“Already done.” Jason’s voice was smug. “One of those vans was the one that made the drive though yesterday. It’s from that PMC that George Marls joined, who are currently working for the Dragonslayers.” There was a pause. “I’m tracking that mobile source again, I’ll let you know when I have something.”

Kurt swore under his breath. The Dragonslayers had a merc group just two blocks from where Taylor was meeting with Dragon. If their PMC was here, the Dragonslayers wouldn’t be far away. He ordered most of the vans to start in that direction.

“Kurt, we’re got flying powersuits inbound, they look like Dragon made stuff.”

Kurt frowned. “Dragon is talking to Taylor in Warehouse four, maybe it has something to do with that, or maybe she’s reinforcing due to the guys in the warehouse.”

“Maybe, we’ll watch them.”

Kurt waited. The docks weren’t that big, not for flying capes and they’d soon know. “Kurt, they set down in Holy Shit!” Kurt froze. “They’re shooting up the parking lot of the hall!”

Kurt swore again. “All units, four and six go to the warehouse and control those mercs. Alisha, stay with Taylor and Dragon. Everyone else, head for the hall. Weapons free at the hall if the shooting is still going on when you get there. Jerry, you’re the on site commander.”

“Weapons free if the fight is ongoing, got it, Kurt.”

Kurt turned to the computer and tried to call up the security camera feeds from the union hall, only to have them fail.

“Kurt, Jerry. No shooting, we’re pulling the injured out. Two of the suits have left, I’m going to talk to the one left behind, he seems to waiting for something.”

Kurt waited, and the next sentence from the radio chilled his blood. “Alisha, Tell Taylor there’s a man who claims to have her parents waiting to talk to her in front of the union hall.”

Kurt ran for the door. His Harley was outside, he could be there in three minutes.

Taylor and Dragon  
Warehouse four

Taylor floated across the sky, heading for the meeting place. She was still working on how to save as many people as she could and barely watching where she was going or how many people were watching and or recording her leisurely flight towards the docks. She landed near the van in the parking lot. Alisha Todachine was waiting for her, next to one of the vans. Alisha was a Navajo woman and one of the few Dockworker women that had been taller than Taylor before her change. She was nearly six feet tall and had a braid of black hair that would reach to her knees if she didn’t coil it up in a pocket she had put in the back of her jacket. Taylor had a minute of disorientation when she landed next to Alisha and had to look down at her.

Alisha looked up at her and shook her head. “I always thought you would end up taller than I was, I just wasn’t expecting it to be so soon.”

Taylor shrugged. “Sudden growth spurt,” she said wryly. “So you’re my babysitter for this meeting?”

Alisha snorted and looked her up and down. “Nope, I’m just here to keep the pests away so you don’t turn the docks into a white sand beach for your folks.”

Taylor stared at her. “How did you know about that?”

“Let me tell you a story about a union bar-barque and this young couple that night have had a bit too much to drink. It was a month or so after your folks got together.”

Taylor was smiling widely by the time Alisha got done talking. “So, mom’s a lightweight and they both tend toward amorousness when drunk?”

“Well, to be honest… yup.”

Taylor was smiling as she thought. “Hmm...”

“I’d be careful about pulling anything on Danny, Taylor. He’s not as naive as I was.”

Taylor snickered. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Sure you don’t. I can’t prove it, but I know you were the one that filled my hair with glitter at that party at your house.”

Taylor’s eyes gleamed with humor, but her voice was oh so innocent. “I was seven. How could I have gotten past a dozen dock workers to get glitter in your hair?”

“I don’t know, but I know you did it. Someday I’ll figure out how.”

Taylor grinned and turned her head as a couple of people came out of the warehouse she had chosen to meet with Dragon in. She had chosen this one because it was owned by the union, a holdover from the days they ran a dozen or more warehouses for loads coming from the sea that had to be inspected before entering the country. It was unused now, of course, but it would be easy to buy from the union for her first factory. “Everything OK in there?”

Alisha shrugged. “This time, yeah. A couple of weeks ago, some homeless folk broke a door in the back and were squatting. We had to move them down the road, over into the old Blue Sea warehouse.”  
Taylor watched the two men get in the van and then turned to look at Alisha. “Why that one?”

Alisha shrugged. “It’s still got power and water. If we find a homeless family, we send them over there.” At Taylor’s look she shrugged again. “Somebody has to keep an eye on the kids, this city isn’t safe for people with homes.”

Taylor nodded. “No, it isn’t, but this meeting with Dragon will start the process that will make it safe.” She thought for a minute. “Captain Sammy is still in charge of dock security, right?”

Alisha laughed. “Yes, but I don’t think you’re young enough to get away with calling her that anymore.”

Taylor waved her hand airily. “Sorry, Captain Sammy,” she said, batting her eyes, “I didn’t know you’d object.”

Alisha shook her head. “That might have worked when you were ten, but you’re a bit older now, and taking down entire cape teams single-handed. She’s not going to fall for it,” Alisha predicted.

Taylor sighed. “Maybe not, but sometimes I wish the last couple of years hadn’t happened, and I could still get away with stuff like that.”

Alisha shrugged. “Be nice, maybe, but I kinda like being able to do grown up things.” She glanced sideways at Taylor and smiled slyly. “You know, boy and girl games.”

Taylor’s face flamed. “The Dockworkers are never going to let me forget that, are they?”

Alisha laughed, smiling widely. “Let you forget that in front of twenty or thirty of us, you asked to join in the big people games, since ‘apparently, they don’t only have two players’, and totally embarrassed Danny and Annette?”

“I was six, and oh look, here comes Dragon.” Taylor didn’t say “Thank god” out loud, but Alisha heard it anyway. The two of them watched as Dragon’s suit came in for a landing and walked up to them.

“Good afternoon, Dragon.” Taylor said, holding out her hand. “I am Verechelen, in this outfit and Taylor Hebert otherwise. This is Alisha Todachine, who will be securing the outside of the warehouse while we are here.”

Dragon shook both their hands. “Are you anticipating any problems while we’re talking?” She inquired. “I can have a couple more suits here, if you are.”

Alisha shook her head with a smile. “Not really, but the man in charge of this area is also her father and since we’d be working anyway, he gave us something to do besides ride around the docks all day, rousting Merchants and druggies.”

Taylor looked surprised. “And I thought he was just being an overly protective dad.”

Alisha nodded. “Oh, that too, but Danny always was good at multitasking.”

Taylor led Dragon over to the larger door that the dock workers had left open. “Let’s find a bit of privacy, shall we?” She grinned at Alisha. “I wouldn’t want to ruin the dock worker’s fun of making up rumours about everything that happens.”

Alisha just grinned and closed the door. Taylor led the way to a large flat table left over from some previous user. “First, here’s the tablet I promised you for meeting with me. I’m giving it to you now because it’s yours, no matter if we can work out a deal or not today.”

Dragon accepted the tablet Taylor held out and tucked it away, so she wouldn’t be tempted to play with it. “Thank you. May I assume you have other things that can be built, like that tablet?”

Taylor smiled. “Armsmaster couldn’t resist taking it apart, could he?”

Dragon shook her head, emoting amusement, a neat trick without a human face to smile with. “He waited almost twenty minutes after he got back to his lab, but half of that was checking it for viruses and explosives.” She looked at Taylor and became more serious. “Do you mind if I ask about your tech?”

Taylor shook her head. “Not at all. That is why I asked you to meet with me.”

“You know that in most cases, Tinker tech cannot be recreated by anyone but the tinker that made it, yes?” 

Taylor nodded. “I do, but this is not tinker tech. I can show you the math behind it all, and the scientific principles that govern it all. It is, for the most part, well beyond our capability to reproduce right now, but the stuff I’m going to start with is not.”

Dragon thought about that for several seconds, an eternity for her. If Taylor was willing to show her the principals and math behind this tech, it could be reproduced and that would mean that she could work on improving her tech as well. “That sounds interesting, but there are laws that prevent tinkers from working in existing fields.”

Taylor shrugged. “I have Panacea’s word that I do not meet the legal requirements to be a Parahuman, the PRT itself is going to give me an MRI to check and when it comes back negative, there’s nothing anyone can do until they get a ruling that overturns Wayne vs New York Mets. By the time my lawyer lets that get to court and they get a decision on it, the next Endbringer attack will have occurred and it will be dropped.”

Dragon stared at her. “You’re very certain that you can kill an Endbringer,”she observed neutrally.

“Killing them, as I said in the PRT building, isn’t the issue. Killing them and not destroying the city is. Given their wildly different abilities and methods of attack, I have a few options, but few of them will work on all of them. Almost all of the ones that would work on all of them have wide area of effect damage, which I would prefer to avoid.”

“Would you mind sharing any of that information? Perhaps I can offer some advice?”

Taylor looked at her for a minute. Her senses were telling her weird things about the powersuit in front of her. There was an aura attached to it, which showed up as one of the cleanest colors she’d yet seen on Earth Bet. But, and this was the strange thing, there were no signs at all of anything physically alive in the suit. Before Allikki had dropped the knowledge of a thousand races in her head, Taylor wasn’t certain she’d have figured out what Dragon was so quickly, if ever. But there were at least a dozen races that made AI, and Allikki had shown here the data on a dozen or so of them. Taylor knew why Dragon kept her nature secret, and wasn’t going to mention it to anyone, not even Dragon. On the other hand, Taylor had no idea who had made Dragon, or what kind of controls that person had over her. Could her see or hear everything she did? Would giving her tech to dragon put it in the hands of somebody not as honest as Dragon?

Taylor shook her head slowly. “I’m not comfortable with letting that tech out into anyone’s hands yet. Let’s make a deal here, get to know each other before that.”

Dragon tilted her head. “What kind of a deal did you have in mind?”

Taylor turned to the table and pulled a dozen sheets out of the air. Before they could do anything, Alisha stepped in the human sized door. “Taylor, a bunch of men have entered a building just a block or so over. I’m just warning you in case something breaks out.”

Taylor and Dragon swiveled to look at her. “You want me to go and take care of it?” Taylor asked. “It shouldn’t take a minute.”

Alisha was listening to her radio. “No, we’ve got it covered for now. This is our job, Taylor and you don’t have a union card yet.”

Taylor nodded as Dragon asked, “Are you going to call the police?”

Alisha shrugged. “No point in calling the police down here until the shit has hit the fan. The area’s so bad outside our zone that cops only come down here in swat teams or convoys of three or more cars. Right now, it’s three thirty. Shift change is at four, so most of the cops are at the end of their beat closest to the station, so they can get back as soon as the next shift is on the beat.”

Dragon emoted a frown. “Is that why the dock workers have so many security types?”

Taylor was watching Alisha’s face. “Let’s allow her to get back out there. We can have a chat after the strangers are gone.” Alisha flashed her a smile and left again.

Taylor shook her head, setting a drone to watch the building and everything within one hundred yards of it. She swore inwardly at another thought. She took her tablet out and sent Asimov the command to detach two drones and set them to following them. Taylor shook her head. She should have thought of that earlier, damn it.

Dragon and Taylor turned back to the sheets Taylor had laid on the table. “These two are high dollar items, not going to be a huge market for them, but you should be able to make them with existing equipment. This one is just an improved computer screen, and this one is a solid state keyboard with adjustable sensitivity.” Taylor handed those two plans to Dragon and pulled out the next one. “This one is much cheaper, will have a huge sales base, but may need a dedicated facility. It’s a portable generator that runs on grasses, weeds, mulch, that sort of thing.”

Dragon put the first two down and took that set of plans. She examined it quickly. “I can build this, yes, but how do you get enough energy out of plants to power it?”

Taylor handed her another sheet and Dragon looked at it. She followed the math almost to the end. “I’m afraid I am not familiar with this bit here,” she said, pointing to where she had gotten hung up.

Taylor nodded. “I figured something like that might happen, your tablet is loaded with tutorials on all the math and principals used to make these things. You may use it for anything that doesn’t compete with the stuff you and I are making together. If you want to make plant fuel based plastic replicators, go ahead, but you can’t make a separate plant fuel based generator.”

Dragon looked at her for a minute. Taylor was offering her the basis of science, actual science that was decades ahead of anything on this planet, and not asking for anything in return. It sounded too good to be true, which made Dragon hesitate, seeking the price in the gift. “Why are you doing this? I can understand wanting me to help you get started, but why offer me all of this information? You could be the only company making anything in a few short years if you wanted, simply by keeping the science to yourself.”

Taylor looked at her. “Three reasons. First, I don’t want to be Tony Stark. You’ve seen that Earth Aleph movie iron man, right?” Dragon nodded. “He’s alone, no family, no time for friends, the stress has made him an alcoholic asshole and I’ve got better things to do. Second, you’re the safest person to give all this to in case something happens to me. I’m powerful, but so are my enemies. Even if I die, you can get this out to people that will use it to better humanity. Third, in about five years or so, the science is going to be released, along with the mathematics, to open distribution on the net.”

Dragon stared at her. “People will be able to make some very dangerous things with this.”

Taylor nodded. “They will, but that is the nature of knowledge. Some will do good with it, some will do bad things. But withholding all knowledge because somebody might do something bad also prevents those people that will do good with it.” Taylor held up a sheet of paper. “This is the chemical formula for a drug that can cure Parkinson’s Disease, erasing all the effects of it as well. But, leave one ingredient out, and it’s a horrible poison, that will kill a man over four long agonizing hours. Should I hide this, not release it because it can be abused?” She set that sheet down and picked up another one. “This is the blueprint for a firearm I offered Miss Militia. It fires a beam of light that will knock out almost any human being. Focus the beam slightly tighter, remove the emitter that causes the unconsciousness, and it’s a hand held laser that can burn a hole clean through a semi truck. Should I not sell these, since someone might do that?”

Dragon was considering the questions when Alisha came back in. “Taylor,” she said hurriedly, “There’s a problem at the Union Hall. There’s a man out front who claims he’s got your parents and he wants to talk to you.”

Taylor snarled, growing three feet in the blink of an eye, wings erupting from her back. She vanished.

Dragon and Alisha stared at where she had been for a second and then turned and ran for the doors.

Taylor and Saint.  
Union Hall parking lot.

Taylor appeared in the parking lot of the Union hall. Saint was standing slightly to her right. “I have your parents, Miss Hebert. I suggest you listen to me before doing anything.”

Taylor sniffed the air, furiously communicating with Asimov. Asimov had not gotten to her parents before they had gotten into the box and had no idea where they were. Taylor had a fix for that. She used a claw to draw some blood and wrapped a program around it. A second later, a pulse of visible energy washed from her like a ripple from a stone. Saint started to say something when Taylor turned on him. He hesitated at the sheer fury burning in her eyes. For an instant, the two stared at each other, Taylor’s fury at the attack on her family burning hotter and higher than any angry she had felt before.

“You call yourself Dragonslayers. Show me, then, how you slay,” Taylor triggered her change to Allikki’s race, reaching the full size and shape in less than a second.

Saint froze, his mind barely processing what he was seeing. His target had become a dragon out of a fairy tale. She was a burnished gold in color, and her wings stretched completely across the parking lot. Her muzzle, just a few feet from him was the size of a pick up truck and with the mouth open in a snarl, he could see a forest of teeth as long as he was tall, even in his suit. He couldn’t see the rest of the body well, with the head so close, but what he did see suggested that it was every bit as massive as what he could see.

“A Dragon!” Taylor finished after she changed. She was absently aware of Dragon hovering behind her, but her attention was on the bastard that had taken her parents. She got the pulse of magic back that had found two sources of her blood. They were together and heading for Captain’s Hill.

She looked at the man in front of her, paralyzed with fear and decided he had nothing she needed. She took a deep breath and triggered a spell Allikki had taught her for close range self defense.

Saint was just beginning to understand how badly he’d underestimated Hebert when she looked at him and opened her mouth.

An incredibly bright flare of bluish-white was the last thing he ever saw.

Taylor ended the spell and ignored the ashes of what had once been a man swirling around in the back draft of the heat of her spell. Nor did she stay to watch the very pavement of the parking lot burn, launching herself into the air and following the feel of the spell that had tracked her parents. In mere seconds she was three thousand feet above the city, winging toward Captain’s Hill.

Dragon.  
Above the docks

Dragon had taken off as soon as she cleared the doors, following the map she’d hastily called up. As soon as she was above the buildings, her telescopic cameras were focusing on where the union hall should be. She saw Taylor facing off with Saint and increased power to her thrusters. Finally, she had a chance to get him.

In the next second she froze, bringing her suit to a hover as she replayed the last two seconds of data. Verechelen had changed, into something that greatly resembled a mythical Dragon, although she didn’t remember any dragons off hand that had arms. A second later, saint was just gone, utterly destroyed by a blast of flame from Taylor’s mouth and she was in flight, gaining height and speed at a rate that Dragon’s suits would be hard pressed to match. She heard panic spreading over the PRT radio bands and overrode them. “PRT, this is Dragon, that is not an Endbringer, that is an independent hero, Verechelen.” By the time she was sure no one would hit the Endbringer sirens, she was following Verechelen at her best speed and wishing she’d brought a recon suit with its better sensors and speed.

She saw Verechelen dive and looking down, saw another of her suits racing madly for the forest on the back side of the hill. A quick calculation showed he wasn’t going to make it. It was, after all, one of her bigger suits, build to take damage, not run away from it.

Jack Tailor  
PRT Sentry Booth two.

Jack had been the fifth person enlisted into the PRT and he’d been a trooper ever since. Starting in New York, he’d been stationed in a dozen places. Brockton Bay was his final posting, he’d already put his papers in for retirement. True, he’d only served eighteen years in the PRT, but his six years of military service before that carried over, and he’d get a decent retirement out of it. It was that experience and his increasing age that had him in one of the watchtowers that watched the skies over Brockton Bay. He had the dock watch today, looking for smoke from a Lung attack, or a flying parahuman. He had seen and reported Verechelen earlier, as well as Dragon landing in the docks.

His casual daydreams about retirement disappeared when three Dragon type suits shot into view, heading for the docks. He made the report, tracking them until he lost them landing somewhere in the union area. He was monitoring the area when he froze, staring at some sort of creature back, rising above some of the shorter buildings in the area. There was a burst of light reflected from the building and then the creature came into sight, lifting off the ground at speed and gaining altitude. It was a freaking dragon, an honest to god dragon from that role playing game he’d tried in college. He was on the radio, reporting its course and altitude, even as his mind boggled over it.

When word came back that it was that new cape, going by the name Verechelen, he abandoned any thought of retiring to the bay.

Verechelen.  
Brockton Bay skies.

Taylor was looking forward, in the direction of the spell she could feel. She finally saw another powered suit, with a coffin sized box stuck to one side of it, flying forward over Captain’s Hill, heading for the forest behind it. She roared, an expression of fury and fear for her family and poured on the speed.

She saw the suit twist about in her direction and roared again, using the spell again, letting flame wash through the air, her wings working hard to push her toward her enemy. He turned away and flames shot from the suit, pushing it toward the forest. She looked and grinned savagely. He wasn’t going to make it.

A hundred yards back, she teleported that last bit, grabbing the coffin with both hands and laying a spell on it to make it indestructible just before she tore it from the suit and landed her full weight on the suit.

Allikki’s race had evolved on a planet with a gravity three times Earth normal. Compared to an Earth creature, they were heavier, pound for pound than anything that ever evolved on Earth. Taylor’s shape now weighed close to three hundred tonnes, almost twice that of a Blue whale.

Dragon’s suit was good, but it had never been built to handle a load that heavy. The thrusters failed and Taylor clutched it in her rear legs and dove for the ground. Four very long seconds later, Dobrynja was squashed into the suit as Taylor landed on it and drove it clear down to the bedrock.

She stepped out of the resulting hole and released the spell on the coffin, using one hand to open it carefully. Danny and Annette looked at her, their eyes wide. Taylor had shown them she could change shape, and described her Allikki shape, which both of their minds still insisted on calling a Dragon, but telling someone about a creature that was the size of a Boeing 777 and seeing it in person are two entirely different things.

Taylor looked them over, not seeing any blood or obvious injuries. “Are you both OK?” she rumbled in her deep voice, as low as she could. This close, she could easily hurt their ears if she didn’t modulate her voice.

Danny nodded, still staring at Taylor. Annette was staring also, but the beginnings of a grin was crossing her face. Taylor picked the box up again. “Hold still,” she said.

To Danny and Annette, the next bit of time was endless, sights and sounds, tastes and sounds mixed with things they would never be able to describe or explain. For some endless time, they were solid, intangible, heard colors and smelled sounds, even as they crossed light years of space.

Taylor teleported her parents home and set the box down on the lawn, being very careful not to damage anything, keeping her wings and tail well over the houses around them. She looked in the box and hesitated, seeing her folks being disorientated. Danny focused on her and waved weakly. “That is never going to be a popular mode of travel,” he said, fighting the urge to vomit.

“That was worse than a bad acid trip,” Annette moaned.

Taylor noted that for future inquiry. “Go inside,” she requested, “I’ll be back shortly. There’s one more of those people that took you. I’m going to deal with them.”

She launched herself into the air and was gone in an instant. She was talking to Asimov, who had caught a look at a power suit, headed away from the other one. The two of them quickly narrowed it down and Taylor flew in that direction, only to see a dozen small vehicles speed away from a warehouse. She had Asimov set a drone on each of them and dove for the warehouse, since none of those vehicles could be hiding the suit she was looking for. Just before she arrived, she heard the truck firing up inside and slowed, looking for it. She saw the nose of an eighteen wheeler coming out and dove.

Standing before the truck, she used another spell Allikki had taught her. Holding her hands out as pointers, she designated an area as the target and cast the spell. As it gathered, she roared her triumph at the woman staring bemusedly at her. A red beam of light filled her arms, and shot forward, guided by her will. It was two feet high and five feet off the ground, covering the entire building, erasing everything in its path. At least that was what it looked like. It was a ranged attack of Taylor’s molecular control, turning everything it touched to oxygen. As it carried a flame with it, the results were spectacular. The oxygen fed the flames and in an instant, the entire warehouse was blazing, even as the top part, now missing two feet of support, fell in with a resounding crash.

Taylor stared at it for a minute, making sure no one else was escaping and that there was enough room around the old warehouse that nothing else would catch fire. Satisfied that she wouldn’t burn down the city, she leaped into the air and began following the first tracker Asimov had put on the vehicles fleeing the warehouse. No one would escape her wrath. As she flew towards the first van, she swore. This was going to be trouble. She had obliterated two people and flattened one. A kill count was going to make dealing with the PRT much harder. She had just been so angry, furious that some bastard would take her family. Under it had been the fear that he would or already had killed them. She wasn’t certain she could bring one of them back alone, she didn’t know enough about them before her birth. She had to use her father to bring her mother back after all, and if both of them were gone…

She swooped in low, coming up behind the first van and while the thought of just flaming it as she flew by was there, she came up over it and grabbed it with all four legs. A few minutes later, she dropped it from twenty feet up in front of the PRT building. She dropped the tracker for that van and took up the next one.

The guy in that van nearly escaped, since the troopers were staring at the dragon flying down the road.

Mags.  
Deserted warehouse.

The crew had broken down almost everything, with only the emergency kit still unpacked. Mags spared a minute to check the truck they hauled the Dragon suits in. The Ascalon laptop was properly secured, right where Saint had put it before suiting up this morning.

“Ma’am, we have a problem.”

Mags went over and sat in the hastily vacated seat. She looked at the monitoring feeds for the suits, hers was in standby as it got packed up, Dobrynja’s suit was in flight and Saint’s suit… was gone. None of the monitoring feeds were reporting anything from it, not fuel status, temperatures, nothing.

She hit the reset, and called Saint on the radio. Neither one worked. She called Dobrynja, and just as she connected, the monitors went wild on that suit. Thrusters on full, then surface damage and then thrusters overload. She watched the altimeter go from 1234 feet to minus 12 feet in four seconds, even as all the monitors for the suit went dead.

“Scatter, now.” she said as she stood up. “Meet back at base three in two weeks. Go, now.”

The crew jumped in trucks and vans, pulling out in a hurry. Mags looked at the emergency kit and decided it was lost. She jumped in the truck that held Ascalon and her suit, belting up as she started the engine. She didn’t have a license to drive the big rig, but this was an emergency.

She was just nosing out of the building when a shadow fell on the truck and half a second later, something landed in the lot in front of her. She was just registering what it was when it spread its arms at an angle that covered the building from corner to corner and roared.

A bright red flash of light was her last vision, even as the thought that dragons didn’t have arms crossed her mind.

Treasure Hunter  
Hideaway.

Marilyn stared at the feeds as Verechelen hunted vans and trucks throughout the city, picking each one up and dropping it in front of the PRT building and then going after another one. She dialed Tattletale, speaking quickly as soon as she picked up. “You got your live feed. I need my money now. I’m leaving.” She listened for a minute. “She may be the nicest person in the world, but I just saw a graphic example of what happens to people that fuck with her family, and I just spent twenty seven hours downloading and examining everything about her family. I’m erasing it and dropping into a hole and pulling the hole in after me.” She interrupted the voice on the other end. “Not only no, but fuck no. I’m not selling you or anyone that crap. I don’t want to die. Goodbye.”

Thirty minutes later, Marilyn was gone, Treasure Hunter was gone.

Four months later, a hacker would appear in Los Angeles, using the name Golddigger.

Stryker  
Merchant HQ.

Stryker shared the feed with his partner and they watched it until it devolved into a game of capture the van. Stryker turned it off and looked at the screen that held his partner’s pale face. “Brockton Bay is a wash,” he stated bluntly. “Our plan depended on known issues, or correctable ones. That girl is too powerful for us to continue without redoing the entire plan. I’ll move to the first alternate city tomorrow. The risk here is too high.”

His partner nodded, working on a sheet of paper. “Agreed. The numbers no longer support Brockton Bay. Actually, the support Portland, Oregon better than the second city. One of their best heroes just died, and their cape strength is down twenty-three percent.”

Stryker nodded. “I’ll leave today, as soon as she’s done hunting.”

The Protectorate  
Various sites.

Miss Militia got off her bike and crossed to where Armsmaster was inspecting some melted and destroyed pavement. “What happened here?”

Armsmaster continued to scan the pavement with some device or another. “Verechelen killed Saint.”

Miss Militia processed that. “Can I get some details? I was out of town on an investigation when everything went down.”

“Saint apparently took the elder Heberts hostage and wanted something from Verechelen. He had one of the dock workers tell her he was here waiting. She was talking to Dragon about business when she was told. She teleported to about there,” he said, indicating a spot about ten feet from the burned pavement. He hesitated. “She then changed into a large reptilian creature with wings and emitted flame from her mouth, incinerating Saint where he stood.”

Miss Militia stared at him as he kept working. “Excuse me,” she said, “but did you just say Verechelen turned into a fire breathing dragon?”

Armsmaster sighed and stood up, leading Miss Militia to his bike. He got a laptop out and turned it towards Miss Militia. “You tell me what you think. This footage is from Dragon’s suit. It’s very short.”

Miss Militia watched it all the way through once and then went back, slowing the playback during Verechelen’s transformation. She watched it twice and looked at Armsmaster. “She became a dragon.”

Armsmaster sighed. “She claimed to not be a parahuman, and I thought she was delusional. Now, I am not so certain. A girl that masses three hundred pounds turned into a three hundred ton creature in less than a second. Point eight three of a second. That is impossible, by every physical law I know of. Conservation of mass, first. I would have to exam her more closely, but I do not believe she should be able to fly, as her mass and that wing span are not compatible. We may not understand how they work exactly, but every power we can examine obeys the laws of physics, even if we’re not always sure how. Verechelen doesn’t.”

“If she’s not a Parahuman, what is she?”

“I have no idea.”

Assault and Battery  
Captain’s Hill.

The two heroes watched as the troopers winched the remains of the power suit out of the hole.

“Sir, I think the pilot is still in here.”

Assault raised an eyebrow under his mask. “Considering the amount of blood oozing out of the cracks, I would agree.” He turned to Battery only to find her kneeling at the side of the crater, watching two techs. Assault moved up next to her and looked down. There was a huge three toed print there, of some creature with claws, that from the marks in the dirt were at least two or three feet long.

Assault considered the depth of the print and came up with a weight that didn’t make him happy at all.

Battery stood up and looked at him. “Did you see the footage?”

Assault shook his head. “I haven’t seen the official footage yet, but I did happen to run across Uber and Leet’s channel earlier. They had found out that the Dragonslayers were in town and so was Dragon. They were following the Dragonslayers with their snitch, trying to get footage of a fight between them and Dragon.”

Battery winced. “I’m certain they would rather have fought Dragon.”

Assault nodded. “I consider it suicide, myself.”

Battery stared at him. “How do you get that?”

“They came into a strange town, started a fight with an unknown cape, and broke all the rules to do so. They didn’t even pretend to hurt her family by accident, they straight up kidnapped them to put some sort of pressure on Verechelen, without having the fainest clue what she was capable of. Suicide.”

Battery knew her husband. “You don’t think she did anything wrong,” she accused.

Assault just looked at her, his joking nowhere in evidence. “Puppy, have you ever considered what I would do to someone that did that to you?”

“No.”

“Maybe you should.” He leaned a bit closer to her and spoke quietly. “I changed for you, love. Without you, there’s no real reason to keep working as a civil servant. And after I finished with whoever hurt you, they wouldn’t let me anyway.”

They were quiet with their own thoughts while they waited for the battered junk that used to be a suit to be loaded on the truck for transport.

Velocity and Dauntless  
Burned warehouse.

“I don’t know what happened here, but it’s a result of powers somehow.”

The two heroes looked at the Arson Investigator. “Would you mind expanding on that?” Dauntless asked.

The investigator started toward the large doors in the front of the warehouse. “There’s a bunch of structural supports missing, in the entire building. I can’t get all the way in yet, the entire outside of the building that I can get to right now has roughly two feet of it missing. It starts about three feet of the ground. You can see it clearly here, in the wreckage of this truck. From here to here, there’s roughly two feet just gone. Frame, body, engine, all of it is just gone, including most of the driver. The only bit of her left is the head and neck. On top of the missing bits, someone set an oxygen fueled fire. And somehow, they did it across the entire building at once, without using any oxygen bottles. This is Parahuman in nature.”

He scratched his head. “Not sure I believe that old drunk, the witness. He claimed a golden dragon landed and burned it down.. He wants to sue the dragon because his stuff was in there.” The guy was smiling at the thought, until her caught the looks Dauntless and Velocity were exchanging. “Wait, are you telling me there’s another dragon in the Bay, besides Lung?”

Their silence was all he needed. “Well, shit.”

Taylor  
Home

Taylor had picked up the suits Parian had been making for her folks and now Taylor was busily installing every rune she thought they would need. She hadn’t planned on using this many in the beginning, but that was before the damn Dragonslayers had taken them. Runes of protection, from physical blows, energy attacks, projectile attacks, every form of power or energy Taylor could think of.

Regeneration, health, reflexes, she boosted and re-boosted everything her parents had. A cut that would have taken a day to heal now took less than a second. A broken leg would heal completely in a minute or so.

Then she added other runes, to increase strength, mental acuity, sight and everything else she could do.

By the time she finished her mother’s suit and went to check on them, she was certain anyone wearing that suit could go toe to toe with anything on the planet except an Endbringer or Scion himself.

She went to her parent’s room where they were both in bed, still recovering from the teleport trip. Allikki hadn’t mentioned anything about people having problems with the trip and Taylor hadn’t had any problems, so this was worrying Taylor.

She had just finished checking on them and getting her mother some more water when somebody crossed her ward. She went to the door and stepped out before they could knock and disturb her family.

Miss Militia and Dauntless were coming up the walkway and Taylor went to meet them. “Good Evening, Miss Militia, Dauntless. I am Taylor Hebert, also known as Verechelen. What may I do for you?”

“The Director would like you to come down to the PRT building and answer some questions about the events of this afternoon.” Dauntless was polite, but he gave off the impression that he expected that we would be going right then.

Taylor looked at them both. “I am more than willing to come in tomorrow, but right now, my parents are laid up in bed recovering from the kidnapping and aftermath. I am not leaving them until I am certain they are fine and I have finished their protections.”

“The director has some questions for them as well, they can come along.”

Taylor stared at Miss Militia. “What part of laid up in bed did you not understand?”

Miss Militia looked at her coolly. “What part of you killed three people without kill orders on their head do you not understand? We are well within our rights to arrest you right now, not ask you to come down and talk to us.”

Taylor stared back. “New Hampshire Criminal code, title LXII, chapter 627-4. Do you know what it says?”

The two heroes looked at each other. Taylor continued without even pausing to hear what they had to say. “Paragraph two, sub-section C. A person is justified in using deadly force upon another person when he reasonable believes that such other person is committing or about to commit kidnapping or a forcible sex offense.” Taylor looked at them. “Since the Dragonslayers had already used Gatling guns and missiles in a public place and had taken my parents in a clear case of kidnapping, including the threat of killing every person they saw and burning the union hall down, deadly force was clearly justified.”

“Not that you have the legal right to take me in anyway. The Supreme Court ruled that a parahuman has those two brain growths, and I do not, something you were informed of. Therefore, you have zero jurisdiction over me or my parents. You’ll have to get the police to arrest me, which may be difficult, as they were here and got a statement from all three of us over four hours ago. According to the officer, the DA will consider the case and may have an inquest in a few days, if needed. The officer seemed to believe that between the fact that the Dragonslayers kidnapped my parents, shot up everything and caused five deaths, there wouldn’t be any charges.”

Dauntless was staring at her. “You turned into a dragon, flew and breathed fire on two of them. How can you stand there and claim you are not a parahuman?”

Taylor shrugged. “Honestly.” She checked the remote monitor she had on her parents. Since they were still fine she turned back to the two heroes. “You both know that powers come in sets, and except for Eidolon, no one has more than one or two powers, correct?” At the hesitant nods Taylor held out her hand and manifested a knife, changing it to a gun and then a rifle and then some weapon neither of them recognized. “There is nothing I can’t do, or learn to do. Including, you may remember, raising the dead, something I believe no Parahuman can do?”

Miss Militia watched Taylor for a minute. “Regardless of your beliefs, you are not a normal human. The director has requested your presence. We are here to escort you to her.”

Taylor stared at her for a second. “You will follow your orders without thought, won’t you? To think I used to admire you. Before you get carried away trying to take me in, I will remind you of what happened to Skidmark and his people when they attacked me on this property. There are protections here that will take offense to any attack on any of us.”

She looked at them. “You two can do whatever you want. I am going back inside and take care of my parents. When they are well, I will come down and talk to the Director with my lawyer. I will also have an MRI, Panacea’s affidavit and a copy of the Supreme Court’s decision. If she continues to push after that, I will have no choice but to file every charge I can lay at her feet and the PRT ENE. Good Night.” Taylor turned and walked to the door, closing it on two confused heroes.

Miss Militia stood still for a second and then turned, swearing under her breath. Dauntless turned to follow her. “What are we going to do?”

“There isn’t anything we can do,” Miss Militia said bitterly. “She’s right about the protections around this house at least, even if the rest of her beliefs are crazy. They stopped Squealer’s vehicle dead in it’s tracks and I’m not willing to find out what it would do to a person.”

“The Director is not going to be happy about this.”

“Neither am I.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reactions to the events of the last chapter, as it happened. Some of this happened before the fight kicked off, some during, and some after. Hopefully, you'll be able to tell which is which.

Wyrm Wrecking Worm  
Chapter Eight

Taylor  
Home

Taylor spend the rest of the day running a dozen errands to keep herself busy. She had called the number on Parian’s website to make an appointment for making the costumes for her parents. She had sizes for both of them, not that it mattered. While Taylor was not very good at designing clothes, she could copy anything somebody else made and change the sizes on it, which is how she had gotten her costume, copying some of Allikki’s clothing. Her parents clothing was more functional and concealing, since they could be regular capes with cape names. Taylor was fairly certain that some thinker or a dozen would figure out who they were quickly, but they would have at least a bit of cover, even more since neither of them had those blasted tumors either. Parian was making the suits and Taylor would be able to pick them up in a few days so she bought the other items she needed for the suits, which mostly consisted of metals, both precious and refined.

She could have simply created all of it of course but buying the metals was better in the long run, putting money into the economy. She’d heard her father complaining about it enough, how money was leaving the city and not coming in as fast. She knew that the few hundred bucks she’d spent today wasn’t even a drop in the bucket, but every little bit would help and after she got her factory started there would be more.

She decided to stop at a Gyro stand for lunch and shifted into a nondescript brunette to do so. She didn’t want to deal with the public right now. Later, she would have to, but all she wanted right now was lunch. She took her sack of food with a smile and stepped into an alley, where she used a skill she hadn’t told anyone but her parents about. Focusing on what she wanted, she disappeared from the alley.

She reappeared on the top of the house of the tanker in the bay in her costumed persona. She looked up at the radar mast and floated up to the radar dish. A moment’s work and old rusted dish was a metal seat with a small table to the side. She sat down and started eating, watching the bay and the city beyond it. She finally turned her mind toward something that had been bothering her since she dealt with Lung.

Allikki had laid out a very well argued and serious claim as to the dangers of the creature and its bits. She had not glossed over the fact that people were going to die, but neither had she been very worried about it, instead stressing the number of people and races that would die in the future if they didn’t do this thing. And to be honest, from a strictly pragmatic view, ten thousand parahumans for billions and trillions of people on uncountable worlds was a small price to pay.

But that was before she started meeting parahumans. Some were scum, like Skidmark. When she had used the senses and skills that came with her new body to examine him, his aura had been black, diseased and evil, with no redeeming qualities that she could find. Mush had been a banal man, a follower more concerned with personal pleasure and greed than anything else. Squealer had been nothing, no trace of the woman showed under the drugs and behaviors trained into her by Skidmark. Taylor wondered for a minute how she was doing, now that her head and body were clean of the drugs and their effects. She shrugged. The PRT had her, and she’d be off to prison soon enough. She was no longer a concern for Taylor. She went back to thinking about the other parahumans she’d met. Armsmaster, who had issues communicating with people, but who’s driving need was to help people and to be the best at it. Miss Militia, who simply wanted to defend the citizens of her adopted country. Assault, with his deeply hidden pain, Those four young parahumans at Calle’s office, each with their own lives and stories, Panacea, with her many issues and an amazing power.

Even Lung had been willing to give up being a criminal for his daughter. At that thought, Taylor checked on Lung, using a scrying program to look in on him. She watched him feeding Hana personally while listening to Sora report on the search for a home for the three of them. She closed the spell and went back to thinking. Some parahumans were pure evil, with no regard for any life but their own and Taylor had no problem knowing they would die. Others were just people, and some of them were good people as Taylor saw it and that was where her problem came from. The idea of just slaughtering them for no reason other than expediency was not to Taylor’s taste. She had proven that she could safely remove parahuman powers and make the person purely human again.

How many would want that, though? Unless she straight out told everyone. No, she couldn’t allow any parahuman to know what she was planning unless she was right there to insure the parasite wasn’t going to notify Scion somehow. It had been risky enough with Lung, but she had been fairly sure she could keep it quiet and she’d been right, fortunately. She shivered as she thought about what could have happened if she had been wrong. She could have ended up fighting Scion on the spot; something she was not ready for yet. The power she had was incredible and she had to spend half her time trying not to make things and events happen. It was just a mental exercise keeping her power under control, but fairly important, as she didn’t need random strange crap happening around.

She grinned and shook her head. No, there was going to be enough strange stuff happening around her without random weirdness. She had a small niggling that something wasn’t right and looked around. She had been thinking, not actually paying much attention to her surroundings, since no one could get close to her without being seen. She looked around, with her eyes and the secondary sense her power gave her. Not alive with five hundred yards of herself was of more than animal intelligence. She sighed and sat back in the leather chair. It must just be her imagination. She stopped then and looked at her chair. When she’d sat down, it had been a metal chair, made of the same material that the radar dish had been made of. Now, it was afar more comfortable leather chair, such as you might see in a high end library. She shrugged and made a mental note to change it back into metal before leaving.

Personal power emissions aside, Taylor was beginning to wonder why Allikki hadn’t come up with a way to save the humans attached to powers. It hadn’t taken Taylor very long to find a way and Allikki was far more experienced and more intelligent than Taylor. Was there some factor Taylor was missing? Something that Allikki hadn’t thought to mention because it was so obvious to her?

She was distracted from her thoughts by a rapidly approaching flier. Taylor looked up and saw Glory Girl coming her way. Wondering what the New Wave cape wanted with her, she gestured and added another chair to the other side of the small table, banishing the trash from her lunch with a thought.

“Hey, it’s you.” Glory Girl smiled as she landed next to the chair. “I came out to see who was roosting way up here, but I did want to talk to you privately.”

“How did you know I was here at all?”

“There are half a dozen cameras aimed out at the bay from the shore, one of them caught you appearing here, but it’s not good enough to pick up details. I caught a tweet about it and came to see who would be out here. Speaking of which...” Glory Girl started fiddling with her phone and then stopped. “Hey, are you using a cape name or what?”

Taylor grinned. “I’m six foot three, with scales and a habit of changing to fit the situation. Would it really do me any good to have a cape name?”

Glory Girl nodded. “Well, yes. I don’t mind, but most of my family likes to go out and not be bothered by cape fans. They make a clear distinction between them in costume and in clothes. Autographs and such are fine in costume, not so much in clothes. Brandish is very articulate about it, especially when she’s in lawyer wear.”

“Huh.” Taylor had never thought of that, or even needed it, since she could shape-shift with a thought, but it might be nice to go out to dinner or something with her parents and not have to worry about people approaching them. She thought about it for a minute and brought out her tablet, surfing the net for the parahuman name lists. “Give me a minute, I have to find one.”

Glory Girl smiled and busied herself on her phone while Taylor looked for a half remembered Dragon her mother had told about once. “Verechelen. I shall be Verechelen in costume.”

Glory Girl looked at her blankly. “Who or what is a Verechelen?”

“It’s the name of a mythical dragon from the Chuvash people. A giant flying snake that could turn invisible, breathe fire and change shape.”

“You don’t look like a dragon,” Glory Girl said doubtfully.

Taylor shrugged and changed into the winged creature she had become facing Skidmark. “Sure of that, are you?”

Glory Girl’s eyes were wide. “That didn’t look nearly as impressive on the PHO video.”

Taylor shrank back down. “My mother thinks that the overuse of photo-shop on the net, combined with special effects in the movies makes videos less real to almost everyone.”

Glory Girl sighed. “Your mother and your offer to Panacea are what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Taylor nodded slowly. “I was expecting questions. Honestly, I thought there would be a lot of questions from all of you.”

“I’m quite sure there will be, as soon as the adults get over the shock of the offer. I have a million questions about it, but right now, I’m more interested in something else.” Taylor invited her to continue with a look. “What do you get out of it? I know you said that we couldn’t tell people outside the family, so you are not looking to get publicity for it. You didn’t mention money, so it’s not that. What is in this for you?”

Taylor shrugged. “Two things. First, Panacea will watch me do it, which will help when we go before a judge to have my mother declared legally alive again.” She studied the girl across from her thoughtfully. “The second is that I am going to change this city and then the world, and I need allies that know just what I am capable of. I will be running around everywhere in a couple of years, but much of my power base will still be here. It will need good people to watch over the city. While the local criminals will know better by then, we both know that just means somebody will try and move into a perceived weakness.”

“That doesn’t seem like a lot, for what you are going to do.”

“Your family has decided, then? They want me to do it?”

“Is there a choice? I mean, she’s family.”

Taylor nodded. “Exactly why I brought my mom back as soon as I could.”

Glory Girl scratched her head. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention that I told you that, I think the adults want to ask a bunch of questions before we actually say yes, just in case you are some Evil Villain attempting to trick us.”

Taylor stared at her for a second. “Oh yes, because adding another member to your already large cape group is the perfect way for a villain to work.”

“Two more, actually. When Jess died, Lightstar left, but Sarah called him and asked him to come back for a meeting. I don’t think they mentioned what it was exactly, but he’ll be here late tonight.”

Taylor nodded. “I see. Any idea when they’re going to call me and ask to set up a meeting?”

“They’ll call you tomorrow sometime, I think, after they discuss it again. Amy is intrigued by the whole thing. She’ll have more questions than everyone else combined.” Glory Girl was distracted by her phone. “Speaking of Amy, I gotta go pick her up. It was nice meeting you and we’ll be seeing you soon.” The last bit was thrown over her shoulder as she sped off towards the city.

Taylor sighed as she returned to her thoughts. There had to be a way to save the good people attached to the parasites.

Director Piggot  
PRT Building

“The Rig’s surveillance cameras caught her, Ma’am. So far she’s created a table and chairs out of the radar mast and had lunch before Glory Girl joined her.”

Director Piggot watched the camera feed for a minute, idly zooming the Rig’s camera out to get a look at Taylor Hebert’s face. “What are you thinking about so hard?” she wondered. Taylor had a look of deep concentration on her face, and a slight frown line between her brows. She was obviously deep in thought, about something that concerned her deeply. She shook her head and looked at her watch. As Director Piggot watched, Taylor stepped off her platform and looked at it for a second. The floor of the platform grew walls and a roof, leaving only the front open. That was changed when Taylor gestured once more and a clear door sealed the side facing the city. Taylor smiled at it and rose another fifty feet in the air, the small room following, but no longer attached to the ship it had come from.

Taylor did something as the Director watched and suddenly disappeared. Director Piggot dialed the camera team. “Were you watching Hebert?”

“Yes, Ma’am. Also, according to the post on Glory Girl’s feed, Hebert has chosen a cape name, but is going to remain an open cape. She’s calling herself Verechelen now.”

“I’m certain that means something, send it to the think tank with the video we have of her in the bay. Have them start a threat assessment.”

“With all due respect, Ma’am, that assessment should be just No. As in No, you don’t want to fight her, you don’t want to annoy her and you really don’t want to make her mad.”

“I’m not disagreeing with you, but would you like to present that assessment to Director Costa-Brown?”

“No, Ma’am. I’ll get the think tank on that now, Ma’am.”

Piggot sat back in her chair and thought about the newest cape in the Bay. She was an impulsive teenager, like most capes were in the beginning. Unlike most capes though, this one was far more interested in fixing the Bay, starting a business and generally being normal, which was not normal for a cape. Even the best of them tried to solve every problem with violence.

Piggot took a deep breath and pulled a file from her drawer. This, more than anything, bothered her. She read it again, knowing it hadn’t changed. She’d gone to the infirmary for her treatment last night, as usual. They taken the blood to determine how much treatment she needed and that’s when it got very weird. She been hustled to a bed and hooked up to machines she couldn’t even identify and for the next five hours a horde of doctors and medical personnel had watched as every injury she’d ever had just faded away. As of three fifteen this morning, her medical file was clean, cleaner even than when she enlisted in the PRT, since she didn’t even have her scars or the small shadows on the bone where she broke her leg when she was fourteen.

The only thing keeping her from going back to field work right now was lack of conditioning and fifty pounds of weight that would be gone in a month if she had anything to say about it. She pushed that aside. Taylor Hebert was walking around her town wearing a costume that healed. Slowly, it was true, but it healed everything, including scars and old bone injuries. If she had been asking anything for it, Piggot would have been happier. In her experience, capes didn’t do anything for nothing. There was always a cost, somehow. Or a downside. Perhaps in a day or two her old injuries would return, worse than ever unless she was around Miss Hebert regularly.

Piggot cursed under her breath. She walked today, without pain for the first time in a decade. She could bend over to grab a pencil off the floor without supportive assistance. No dietary concerns, except what she wanted. She could even have a beer after work if she wanted. All things she hadn’t had since Nilbog. She was very much afraid that she would pay Miss Hebert’s price if that was what it took to stay this way.

She pushed that fear to the back of her mind and concentrated on reading the reports on the Merchants.

Stryker  
Merchant hideout

“Stryker.”

“What do mean, lay low? I’ve got an operational tempo to keep up here, we can’t just hide.”

“What the fuck are the Dragonslayers coming here for?”

“Seriously? Yeah, I get it. We’ll pull in until those idiots are gone. Any idea on when? That soon? I’ve got to get the word out. Stryker out.”

Stryker stepped out of his office. “Listen up, people. Get the word out, track down your call chains. Everyone pulls in tonight. Some stupid out of town capes are going to attack Hebert and the Dockworkers. I don’t want a single Merchant involved, you understand?”

He turned and went back into his office. Sitting behind the desk, he dialed a number from memory. “Stryker here. Sometime today or tomorrow, the Dragonslayers are going to start a fight with the Dockworkers and or Taylor Hebert. I will pay ten grand for unedited footage of as much of the fight as you can get.” He listened to the reply. “Bullshit. Fifteen grand max, if it’s good clear footage.” He nodded at the reply and hung up. He really wanted to see what this Hebert girl had. He started considering how to watch the show without getting caught up in it.

Various People  
Brockton Bay.

Tattletale hung up the phone and looked over at the rest of the Undersiders. “The Dragonslayers are coming to town. They’re after Taylor Hebert.”

Alec barely glanced up from his gaming. “Sucks to be them,” he said calmly. “I’ve got ten bucks that says she eats them for lunch or dinner, whichever is closer.”

Brian was watching Lisa. “What are you planning?”

“Nothing to do with getting in that fight, god no. But, I am starting to get flashes from Hebert and I want to observe her when she’s busy elsewhere.”

Brian scratched his head. “How do you plan on doing that?”

Lisa grinned and whipped out her phone again. She dialed a number. “Hello, Leet. Want to make enough money to make something cool? I want to hire you and your Snitch.”

Marilyn hung up and cursed Stryker even as she started working. Cheapskate bastard that he was. At least Tattletale would match his price, even if she wanted live feed. Marilyn was a very careful woman, which was how she stayed out of the gangs, despite being the most desirable of assets, a Tinker. Trying to juggle all the things she would need to do before the idiots attacked was risky at best. She took three minutes to lay out her current ‘run for your life’ gear and then began firing up her equipment. Surveillance was easy. Watching people without them ever knowing they were being watched was much harder and getting all the information on them from human resources, records and computers was damn near impossible without anyone knowing. Thankfully, she didn’t need to leave her basement for video of Taylor Hebert. She took a minute while her equipment warmed up and booted to look around, making sure every piece of the ‘duck and cover’ equipment was in place. Her basement was large and filled with banks of computers, each serving a different function, some obvious, some not so much.

She faced the bank of monitors and sank into her mental space as she began typing. Pictures of the target began flashing up even as one screen began scrolling data about Taylor Hebert.

Treasure Hunter always delivered the data after all.

Merchants started clearing the streets and the exodus didn’t go unnoticed. Usually the Merchants disappeared when one of the gangs was about to rampage or the PRT was about to make one of their periodic pushes to clean the streets up a bit. Street vendors closed early, and all the shops had their metal shutters and doors ready to slam shut at an instant’s notice.

In the docks, two more vans joined the ceaseless circling of the area they claimed. The PRT noted the precautions and a quiet recall of off duty personnel happened as they tried to figure out which group was about to start fighting. The police made sure their vests were on and doubled up on their magazines. By three in the afternoon one would be excused for thinking Brockton Bay was a ghost town. Those few that had to be out moved quickly, heads on swivels as they tried to watch in every direction.

The wards were kept in the base, training in group tactics while the Protectorate heroes that were not on patrol gathered in the ready room.

Tension continued to rise.

New Wave  
Pelham house

Amy and Vicky watched as the tall bearded man embraced the adults one at a time. He stopped and looked at them after he was done. Crystal and Eric were on their way back from the store, getting last minute snacks for what promised to be a very long night. “You two have grown a lot. Of course, that’s not surprising, it’s been awhile.” He held out his arms. “Can I get a hug?”

Thirty minutes later the missing two members of New Wave were back and everyone was seated in the living room with food and drink in easy reach. Uncle Mike looked around. “OK, Sarah, when you contacted me, you said this was something I had to be involved in. Your insistence and lack of details has me curious as hell. What’s going on?”

Sarah sighed and brought out a laptop. “I need to give you some background here. The rest of us know this and will remain quiet while I fill Mike in.” She called up a picture. “This whole thing starts with this girl, Taylor Hebert, also known as Verechelen. She triggered two days ago and since then she has taken out the merchant capes, captured Crawler and generally upset everything in Brockton Bay.”

She changed the picture to an obituary picture of Annette. “This was her mother, killed eighteen months ago in a traffic accident.” She changed the picture again, to one of Taylor facing off against the Merchants. Annette was clearly visible in the background. “Taylor claims to have raised her mother. The available evidence at this time is leaning towards backing her claim up. She wants Amy, as Panacea to watch as she raises another person, to have expert testimony on the process. She has offered to raise Jess for us. In order to do so, she needs the people that knew her best. You were the closest of us all to her, so you’ll understand why I wanted you here, even if it meant letting your curiosity bring you back.”

Mike had been watching the pictures with mild interest until the mention of raising the dead when his interest became doubt. When he understood what Sarah was saying he paled. He held up a hand in a wait a minute gesture and closed his eyes to think. After a minute he opened them and took a deep breath. “Jesus, you’ve gotten blunt over the years, Sarah.”

Sarah just raised an eyebrow quizzically. “How would you go about telling somebody that the dead can be raised?”

Mike blinked and shrugged. “Hell, Sarah, I always was the bluntest of us all. What makes you think I’d have a better idea?” He frowned and looked at the pictures again. “Could this be a trick of some kind, tinker tech or cloning or something?”

Amy sighed. “It’s not cloning. I touched Annette Hebert. She has no cloning markers, nothing that is not pure human in her.” She went on to detail what she’d found when she touched the woman. The conversation that followed was long, involved and raised a dozen or more scenarios that didn’t include raising the dead, but under it all was the possibility that it could be done.

Around three thirty, Glory Girl got a text message from Dean. “Hey, I hate to interrupt, but Dean says it looks like something is about to happen and wants me to stay near a phone and to warn all of you.”

The original subject was put on hold while they used phones and computers to check out the city. They took turns getting costumes out and donning them and then the conversation went back to the more important topic.

Mike had taken the time that the others were changing to consider what if? If Jess could be returned, what then? She would not know about anything that happened over the last ten years, according to what Amy had gotten from Annette and he had changed in those years. Would he still love her? Would she love the man he was now?

As the others came back, he set that aside to hear the other out. The last ten years had changed him, made him more willing to listen and reason things out. Witness protection in an age of capes had led to changes in everything he was and did. With villain thinkers out there, he couldn’t keep any habits that would identify him and the long training in being an entirely different person and cape had been a learning experience for him.

He looked around and noted that the adults of New Wave didn’t seem to have changed at all. Sarah was still the voice of reason and Carol was as prejudiced as ever. He spent a minute looking at Amy, who seemed to be under some sort of stress that the others ignored or didn’t notice.

That lasted until Glory Girl’s phone blasted a loud shrill sound. She had it to her ear in an instant. “What’s up?” She hung up a second later. “Go to Uber and Leet’s site, they’ve got something we have to see, according to Dean.

Sarah opened a browser window and stopped. “Does anyone know their site address?”

“www.gamemasterspower.com.”

Everyone looked at Crystal, who had spoken up. “What? They have a lot of commentary on the events of the city that don’t get into official reports or the news.”

Seconds later, they were all staring at the screen in disbelief and varied reactions.

“Is that the cape that offered to raise Jess?”

Silent nods were the only answer.

“Well, shit.”

Kenta and Hana  
Safe-house

Kenta had been rocking a sleeping Hana while debating moving out of Brockton Bay entirely. Now that he had no cape powers, if anyone figured out who he used to be, his life wouldn’t last a week. On the other hand, while he was still a strong man, he didn’t look anything like Lung. He was only five foot ten now, not nearly seven feet tall and his features favored his Chinese heritage more than his Japanese history. He was interrupted as Sora came in and took Hana. “Go look at the net. You need to see it.”

Kenta went into the other room and watched the video, some sort of live feed from the docks. A minute later his eyes blazed. Had the girl stolen his powers to use? Kenta snarled. He would know the truth of this new Dragon.

Miss Militia  
PRT Forensic Labs

Miss Militia read the report, carefully parsing the medical data until she was certain that she understood it. The remains she had collected in the warehouse they had been directed to were Thomas Calvert. As some of the remains still had fragments of a costume that seemed to match Coil’s, the evidence that Tattletale had been telling the truth was mounting. The stories the Undersiders were telling to the lawyers were checking out as well. It looked like there would soon be another hero group in the Bay, a corporate sponsored one this time. She was not looking forward to the shaking up that was going to be the cape scene when the Undersiders or whatever they ended up being called were announced and started working. Taylor Hebert was already going to cause enough waves. Going by the power she had already shown, there was no one in the Bay that could take her and the news of a powerful new cape was bound to draw the villains in to try their luck. The Butcher, perhaps, or one of the Masters like Valefor or Heartbreaker, none of which Miss Militia wanted in her city. She shook her head and collected the file. That was a problem for another day, right now, she had to get with Director Piggot and figure out what they were going to do about the Coil situation.

Amy Dallon  
BB General Hospital

After the news of the fighting in the Docks, Amy had called for a ride while the rest of the family watched the video feed coming from Leet’s camera. The hospital had prepped for a rush of patients, but until they showed up almost everyone was in front of a computer or screen watching the feeds.

Most of the comments were about Taylor and Amy was lost in thoughts of the biology that would support that body. She had to talk to Taylor again.

The Undersiders  
Redmond Welding Building

Lisa had taken over the large screen TV and was splitting the screen between three different feeds, one from the Uber and Leet site, one from a city camera and the last from Treasure Hunter. As the fights started, the rest of the group had gathered to watch. As the fight continued, Lisa dropped the city camera, as the Dockworker were not as important as the feeds that showed the other fight.

Alec was only one to speak as they watched the fight. “Lisa, have I told you how happy I am that you decided to not fight the new Overlord of the Bay?”

Mannequin  
Nebraska

The being sat in the basement of the empty house, working on one of his bits while a sub routine monitored the internet. He was watching for anything that would indicate the authorities had found him and running a keyword search for events and people that he was interested in. When that program flashed an alert, he paused the other activities to watch the feed out of Brockton Bay.

When the feed ended, he sat immobile for a few minutes and then finished his repairs. He’d have to make some modifications before continuing his trip to meet Taylor Hebert.

Citrine  
Brockton Bay

“Sir, Our meeting with Miss Hebert will have to wait. She was attacked and is fighting now. It is up on Uber and Leet’s site from the beginning, but every news channel is carrying it now.”

“Yes, Sir, I will make another appointment with her.”

The Barnes  
Home

Zoey was making dinner and listening to a TV program when the flash of breaking news came on. She glanced at it and was transfixed by a picture of Taylor. She stepped closer and began watching the entire thing. “Alan, get in here.” When he came in the room, she didn’t say a word, just pointed at the screen. They watched it in silence. When it was over, Zoey turned to Alan. “You had better hope that Taylor is infinitely better than Emma was to her.” She sighed. “Not that anything will save you when Annette comes for you.”

Jerry Hatfield  
DA’s Office.

“Sir? I think you should watch Channel Five. And remember, that is the girl that was the victim in that case you’re planning on dropping. Might want to prevent anybody else becoming that.”

Jerry hung up the phone and went back to watching the news. He shook his head and hoped that common sense prevailed over the politics that was screwing up the Hebert case. He thought about that for a second and put in a request for vacation. Common sense was rare in Brockton Bay.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not a lot of Action, but the next thing out will be a PHO interlude and the explosion of Verechelen onto the national and international stage. The next chapter will begin what I am calling the testing arc. Everyone has an opinion about this new cape, from Legend to the Three Blasphemies and many of them are going to try their luck against her. First up, the Elite hear about her. Also, Taylor finally makes contact with Allikki.
> 
> Notice: This is the last chapter that is finished, so there will be a wait for chapter eleven. Hopefully, there will not be a resurgence of the virus to slow me down again.

Treasure Hunter  
Hideaway

Treasure Hunter sat before her screens, interacting with the world in her favorite way. No messy yelling, no hands grabbing and pawing. She forced herself away from the images brought up and sank deeper into the computers, eking out every last bit of data about the Heberts and especially Taylor Hebert.

She already knew more about her parents than anyone, possibly even themselves. She had been data mining the net for every mention of them for over twenty hours now and had every mention of them. Annette was the most interesting personally, with her connection to Lustrum, but Danny’s family was extremely colorful and interesting. She made a note to look into more of it later.

Right now, she had to start the live-stream for Tattletale. She hooked into all the cameras she had marked as showing the docks and the ones that watched the warehouse where the Dragonslayers had set up base. Damn fools thought just because they brought their own power source they wouldn’t show up on the grid. Her network didn’t care about that, she used a thousand and one little things that only a computer or a thinker would notice, including vehicle traffic, emission levels and fuel purchases, along with her spy-bots. Small, fast and invisible, they could blanket half a mile at a time and see everything in that space. The only people in the entire city with better cameras were Armsmaster, who simply had more money to throw at them and freaking Leet, whose Snitch was probably the finest camera ever.

She started Tattletale’s feed and watched as the mercenaries left, and the Dragonslayers suited up. Ten minutes later she was staring in horror. Taylor Hebert had just turned into something from a fantasy and shown no compunction about killing people in that form. Treasure Hunter looked at all her equipment and started erasing everything that had to do with the Heberts. No way in hell was she going to have anything to do with that, that dragon.

Even as her gear was broken down for transport, she was monitoring the responses of the rest of the city to Hebert’s… She took a few minutes to auto-hypnotize herself, erasing all knowledge of Verechelen’s civilian identity from her mind, leaving only the thought that she never wanted to know what it was.

The reactions to Verechelen’s introduction to Brockton Bay were hilarious, from the viewpoint of somebody that would soon be out of this damn city.

Director Piggot  
PRT Headquarters

“Director, we have a parahuman incident.”

Piggot looked at the screen of her computer, where cameras were tracking three suits flying towards the docks. “Have we identified the suits?”

“Ninety-five percent probability of them being the Dragonslayers, Ma’am. Dragon is in the docks now, meeting with Verechelen.”

Piggot frowned. She wasn’t worried about Dragon, but Verechelen was a new cape, and might do something stupid.

“Ma’am, the suits have landed in the parking lot of the Union hall and opened fire. We have civilian casualties.”

Piggot swore under her breath and looked at the Protectorate cape board. “Armsmaster is closest, route him there now, and get Dauntless and Velocity moving as back up.”

She was watching the feed, even though it didn’t show much. Between the gangs and the DWU, camera coverage of the docks was mostly run by long range cameras from the Rig. She stared in disbelief as a dragon rose out of the docks and powered its way into the sky. What the hell was that?

“Ma’am, Overwatch was about to hit the Endbringer alarms, but we have Dragon claiming it is the new cape Verechelen. Orders?”

Piggot was about to reply when an urgent notice from Dragon popped up. She watched Verechelen change and incinerate Saint where he stood. “Stand down the Endbringer alarms for now. Maintain a level three alert until I order otherwise.”

She switched her views to the PRT recon helicopter that had launched and watched as Verechelen drove another suit into the ground, ripping something off of it first. She promptly disappeared. It took nearly twenty seconds to find her again, on the street in front of the Hebert residence. Piggot swore again as the recon cameras showed Verechelen’s parents getting out of the box she’d torn off the suit she smashed. Despite the fact that she had killed at least one, maybe two people, it would be hard to get her on anything if those people were kidnapping people. She’d have to wait and see what happened next.

The next hours was a mass of reports, all concerning the single parahuman incident in the city today. Well, Victor had been spotted near ABB territory, but nothing had come that, thankfully.

By five thirty, she thought she had a reasonable grasp on what had happened, based on cameras, eyewitness testimony and forensic reports. Saint had a thing, according to the surviving Dragonslayers, about AI, and somehow, had hacked into and listened to the meeting where Verechelen had claimed to be able to make them. He had decided, for whatever reason, to stop Verechelen before she could make any, and chosen to kidnap her parents to make her listen.

Verechelen had ignored him, killed him and then gotten her parents back, killing the Dragonslayer that had them. She had then put her parents at their house and hunted down the last of the three that had kidnapped them, killing her as well. The rest of the Dragonslayers, the ones not directly involved in the kidnapping had been delivered to the front parting lot of the PRT building, with all their vehicles and equipment before Verechelen had simply disappeared again.

She called a few people and set up a meeting. Thirty minutes later, she walked into conference room six, the high security room just down the hall from her office. “Armsmaster, would you seal the room?”

Armsmaster did so, even as the rest of them put all their external electronics in shielded boxes. Once they were all done, Piggot looked around. Armsmaster sat at her right, with Dragon next to him and Assault and Battery beside her. On her left was Miss Militia, followed by Dauntless and the PRT lawyer, Matt Coulson. Beyond him was Daniel Check, the ENE public relations man. Next to him was Sgt. John Wayne, head of base security.

“I assume everyone has read the briefing prepared by Armsmaster,” Piggot said, her tone implying that had better have read it. “We have five dead civilians, including two dockworkers and three dead criminals. Before we get into that, we need a preliminary threat rating for Verechelen. Armsmaster?”

Armsmaster stood up and used the remote to open the large screen monitor. “The problem is that we don’t have any idea of Verechelen’s actual limits. Dragon and I have put together a rough rating based strictly on observed limits. Verechelen has demonstrated flight, both in her normal form and her reptilian form. She can carry others with her during flight. After dealing with Saint, she rose to a height of three thousand feet in under eight seconds and then crossed the fourteen miles between the docks and Captain’s Hill in forty-two seconds, giving her a speed of twelve hundred miles an hour. With such a short flight we cannot say if that is her top speed. However, I doubt it, simply because the flight was too short for any biological organism to reach the top end of their effort.”

He clicked the remote and called up Dragon’s internal camera, showing her teleporting out of the warehouse the two of them had met in, and then the recon cameras, showing her teleporting away from Captain’s Hill. “Verechelen has also shown an innate ability to teleport, without line of sight. We do not know the limits of this yet. She has teleported twice, both times to places Verechelen is familiar with. Right now, we will assume she has to know the area to be teleported to, absent new information. With both modes of transportation available to her, we have assigned her a mover nine rating.” He looked up. “Does anyone have information that contradicts this rating?”

Piggot frowned. “I’m not arguing the rating, but why a nine? I would think a seven high enough.”

Armsmaster called up a map. “The circles on the map indicate how far she can fly in a given time. The first one is her radius in twenty minutes. Boston and New York are in that range, as well as several Canadian cities. In an hour, she covers the entire east coast except for parts of Florida, especially if she combines flight with teleportation. Notifying nearby cities is a sensible precaution. Plus, she showed in finding Crawler and collecting him, that she can teleport to her drones. Since we have no idea where her drones are, we have to assume that they could be anywhere.”

No one else said anything and Armsmaster continued, changing the screen to show Verechelen in several forms, including the dragon form. “Verechelen has shown a variable changer form, ranging from a nearly normal human form with slit pupil eyes to a three hundred ton reptilian form. This makes her the biggest changer on record and the fastest, as seen here.” He put her change to the dragon form on the screen. “The elapsed time between starting and finishing her change was less than two seconds. Note that when her tail formed and grew, it simply destroyed the small shed in the way, with no indication that Verechelen even knew she hit anything. She has been given a changer nine rating. I have not included her brute rating in this since she has that rating in all the forms we have seen so far, and it is high enough to warrant its own category. Does anyone have any information that contradicts this rating?”

“It should be higher,” Assault said bluntly. “Her control over her change is strictly mental. It changes when she’s angry, but not always the same way, which means she’s controlling it for the form she wants then. We have no reason to believe she can’t change into anyone she wants and a bit of circumstantial evidence that she can.”

Piggot looked at him. “Present your evidence.”

Assault took the control from Armsmaster and took a minute to set something up on the computer. He called up a picture from the previous day, of Verechelen and Glory Girl at the top of the tanker. He focused on the bag of food. “This is from that little Gyro stand on the Boardwalk. I happened to notice it when I was watching all the footage we have of Verechelen. Thing is, Verechelen has never been there, or somebody would have posted pictures on PHO and the Gyro guy would have a picture of her on his wall. Everyone knows he tries to get every cape that comes by to put a picture up. He’s even got one of Lung.” Assault grinned. “Plus I went and asked him if he’d gotten a chance to get Verechelen yet and he said no.” He motioned at the bag on the screen. “So, either the variable changer has forms that can pass for normal, or she asked somebody else to buy her lunch, and that some body hasn’t said anything about it. I think though, that knowing she is a changer, we should err on the side of caution.”

Murmurs of assent rose around the table. Armsmaster was checking something on his tablet. “It really doesn’t change her rating, but we will add a stranger rating to her changer rating. If she can pass as a random human, even assuming it is limited to the same sex, that would be a Stranger two rating. If she can imitate other people well enough to fool people, that would be a Stranger five at least.”

Piggot sighed. “Given the sheer versatility and breadth of powers she has already shown, make it a five. If we find out differently later, we can change it, but I would rather overestimate her than underestimate her.”

Dauntless looked up. “Just out of curiosity, why did you start with these ratings? I would think her brute and shaker ratings are more important.”

Armsmaster agreed. “They are, but they are going to cause the most argument. I wanted to get the easy ones out of the way first.”

He reclaimed the remote from Assault. “Moving on, Dragon and I have given her a rating of Thinker 10.” Murmurs of surprise arose around the table but they waited for Armsmaster to present his evidence. Armsmaster held up his tablet. “She made this and it is not tinker tech. She understands math, physics and science to a level that is at least two hundred years ahead of what we have, based on the tutorials that are on Dragon’s tablet. Given that she claims to be able to make starships, in at least five varieties, it could be far higher. She programs her drones and the unit she used to capture Crawler from memory. Given the sheer amount of knowledge that is required to build a relatively simple rocket for moon exploration, I assume her intellect is well above human normal.”

“That’s if she can actually do all that.” The public relations man was clearly skeptical.

“She created this tablet out of nothing in less than ten seconds. She recreated Squealer’s vehicle out of sand in under twenty seconds, without even knowing what it did. I see no reason to doubt her when she says she can build something,” Dragon put in. “She gave me the plans for a dozen inventions that we will be working on, most of which are cutting edge tech now, and has plans for a hundred or more things that we will have to build the tools to make the tools to make. Given the things we know she can make, I see no rational reason to doubt she can make anything she says she can make. She mentioned making an anti-matter missile in our first meeting.”

Armsmaster looked up. “While she is not a tinker in the parahuman sense, I also feel that her ability to make technology out of the air, combined with her understanding of technology above anything we can do warrants a tinker rating of five, basely solely on the plans she has shown Dragon and the things she has created, from the tablets to the virtual assistant she calls Asimov.” He gestured at Miss Militia. “The Tinker rating is mostly because she offered to show Miss Militia a firearm, so in any fight, she could pull weapons of unknown capability out of the air and the Tinker rating will allow our people to be wary of that. It is, of course, a sub set of her thinker rating.”

Dragon added, “She should also have a sub set to her thinker of Master, a one or two. Asimov will follow any instruction she gives him. She can create as many Asimov types as she wants, and after talking to it for awhile, and seeing what it can do, her minions are quite capable of disrupting most computer systems.”

Armsmaster called up the video Asimov had posted. “She sent two hundred drones out on a wide search pattern, so she can control at least that many at once, giving her direct surveillance of at least a mile with invisible drones. Master two may be low, depending on how many she control at once.”

Sgt. Wayne coughed slightly. “While her thinking ability may be the more important matter, I think we need to change it around. Make her a Tinker 5 and a lesser thinker rating. In the end, these rating will determine how we fight her if she gets mastered or becomes a villain, and the ability to pull laser weapons out of thin area is far more important in a fight than her ability to make starships.”

Piggot nodded. “Agreed. Is her tinker-tech good enough to merit a five?”

Dragon spoke up. “If she can make an antimatter missile that can kill an Endbringer, ten may not be high enough.”

There wasn’t much that anyone had to say to that.

Armsmaster took over again. “Currently, we are not looking at her to have a Breaker or Trump rating, so we will move on to the three highest ratings she has.”

He ran the video of her allowing Squealer’s round to strike her in the chest in slow motion. “She knew it was coming and had already destroyed one round before it reached her. Dragon thinks she allowed this round to hit her as a form of intimidation, to show Skidmark that nothing he did could hurt her. Add the way she destroyed the shed by growing and the way she drove a Dragon made suit ten feet deep into the ground and crushed it without a scratch, she is obviously a durable brute. She also tore a Dragon made medivac module from its moorings, which Dragon claims would have needed extreme strength, well above anything anyone in the bay can do, with the exception of a ramped up Lung. Her strength and durability combined should give her a brute rating of at least six. It is quite possible that it should be much higher, but we have no evidence of that, except in her reptilian form, where the muscle to move a three hundred ton body is extreme.”

Dauntless thought for a second. “Given that she can take a Squealer round, empowered by Skidmark’s field to the chest without even moving, I would think that alone would get her a higher number.”

Armsmaster shook his head. “We don’t know if that is her body, or the programs she has wrapped her uniform in. She wears a healing field at least and given that only a few of the runes on her costume power that, the others must power other functions.”

After they agreed on the Brute six rating Armsmaster queued up several videos. “Please hold all comments and questions until the end.” A dozen videos played, short clips, showing Verechelen doing things, making and manipulating things, from the lockers in Winslow to recreating Squealer’s vehicle. Her lunch table was shown, still hanging in the air above the old Tanker. After all the instances of Verechelen’s matter ability were shown, the people turned to Armsmaster.

“I cannot tell how she does any of this. In Winslow, she claimed a ferrokinesis ability, but later, she manipulated other substances, created matter from nothing, and transmuted multiple substances into one and then turned it back again. I think her Shaker rating should be at least eight. Dragon thinks that it is line of sight, and should be ten or even higher.”

“It can’t be just line of sight. That table thing she created is still hanging there, without any support except her power.”

“That depends on if it has those runes she uses on it. If it does, it could be one of her programs holding it there. In fact, that would make more sense, as she wouldn’t have to worry about losing control of it or forgetting it.”

There was a general murmur of consent to that. Sgt Wayne requested the scene in the school hallway again. “It’s not entirely line of sight, either. Some of those lockers are behind her, so unless she can see behind her, it got to be a range.”

Assault shook his head. “Just give her a P.I.T.A. ten rating and be done with it.”

Dauntless frowned. “I know I’m going to regret this, but what is a pita rating?”

“Pain in the ass.” Assault grinned.

Director Piggot shot Assault a cold look. “If I could give those out, you’d have had one years ago.” She sighed. “Shaker, definitely. Sgt, could you figure out away to take her with con-foam and a large team?”

Sgt Wayne shook his head. “This one will need a team of capes to do the job, Ma’am. Con-foam is useless, if she can transfigure it like she did Squealer’s vehicle, and if she changes, there isn’t enough con-foam in the city to contain her anyway. We don’t have any weapons locally that will hurt her, and to be honest, I’m not sure the PRT has anything that will hurt her that isn’t tinker-tech. Add teleportation and flight to her other options and taking her down without a dozen or more capes may take the Triumvirate.”

Battery shook her head. “She can’t be that bad, can she?”

Sgt Wayne snorted. “Tell me, if she went to her dragon form and just sat down in the street and refused to move, what could we do about it?” He frowned, “For that matter, even if we could do something to her in that form, where would we put her? I don’t think we have a cell big enough to hold her.” Her scratched his jaw for a second. “And that is just if she was doing a sit down protest. If she wrapped herself around a building and held on, the only way to move her might be to demolish the building. Although to be honest, I don’t think we have to worry about peaceful resistance from Verechelen, judging by the way she went after the Dragonslayers.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Battery muttered.

“Shaker nine, then,” Piggot decided. “Now, does anyone have a realistic approach to fighting her, so we can choose the rating we pass to the troops?”

“With all due respect, Ma’am,” Sgt Wayne said dryly, “I think the troops would prefer not to fight her. Speaking of fighting her, do we know how many of those capture balls she has?”

Armsmaster looked a him. “She said she only had three, why?”

“Because Pvt. Lee was wondering what we’d do if she pulled an Oni Lee, and just started teleporting around throwing those damn things at people.”

The silence that met that statement made him swear under his breath. Assault shrugged. “That would still be better than turning you into a pile of sand.”

Battery looked up. “What? She’s not Manton limited?”

Armsmaster called up a report on the screen. “She somehow cleaned Squealer’s entire system of every drug in it. Samples of Squealer’s hair show a drug history that should have killed her, but her blood work and other samples are completely clean. This implies, that if she can takes certain substances out of the body, she could put them in the body just as easily.”

Battery shook her head. “please tell me she’s at least friendly to us and not looking to join or start a gang?”

Miss Militia sighed. “She’s not unfriendly to us, but she’s not much for authority and thinks we’re useless due to PRT policies.” She shrugged. “On the bright side, she doesn’t like the gangs at all, and after what she did to the Merchants, Crawler and the Dragonslayers, most gangs will be leery of trying to strong arm her into a gang.”

Assault grinned. “Not that it’s a problem anyway. If some idiot does try to strong arm her, she’ll call us to pick up the trash. The idea of Kaiser done up in a diaper and pacifier while sleeping in the street is funny.”

Director Piggot was listing the ratings. She interrupted the conversation with her decision. “Her official threat rating will be Tinker 10, Changer 9 with a warning that her tinker specialty is very broad and may pull from any threat rating at her Tinker rating.”

Sgt. Wayne nodded slowly as he thought it through. “The troops will know that she could pull anything out, and concentrate more on evacuating civilians than trying to fight her.” He grinned at the capes. “I’ve never been so glad to be a normal in my life, honestly.” Assault grinned but the rest of the capes ignored the comment.

“That settled, there is another problem, which is why Coulson is here in this briefing today. Verechelen is claiming not to be a Parahuman, and if Panacea’s report is right, she may be telling the truth.”

With the exception of Coulson, everyone stared at the director. A second went by and then several voices rose as one. Piggot raised her hand until they all shut up. “Mr. Coulson, would you explain it to us all, please. I’m still having a hard time believing it myself.”

The lawyer looked around. “Has anyone here studied early cape law?” To his surprise, Assault raised his hand. “OK, well for the rest of you, in the mid eighties, when villainous capes were just starting, the government hauled a few of them into court, and promptly had to let them go, because the juries found them not guilty. The classic case in Parahuman law 101 is Heartbreaker. After he mastered his first woman, the family came to the law, they investigated and arrested him for mastering the woman. Heartbreaker’s lawyer convinced the jury that Heartbreaker himself had been mastered, just like the woman. Or, rather he introduced enough doubt that the jury found him not guilty.”

“Three years later, a stranger got away with murder, because their stranger power was to appear to be somebody the viewer knew well. They shot somebody in front of twenty people, and the police got twenty different descriptions< none of which matched the actual suspect’s appearance.”

“Until 1992, there were dozens of cases like this. Capes look like ordinary people, and without being able to prove that John Doe here was a parahuman and the one that committed the crime in question, super villains were going free as often as mob bosses. Part of the problem is that almost all capes wear costumes and gloves, making normal ways of identifying people harder. If John Doe uses a gun to shoot somebody, he has gun shot residue on him, the gun may have prints on bullet casings or other places, etc. If a blaster uses a parahuman power to kill someone, unless they use it again, in front of a jury, or in some fashion that we could point to and say, this action killed the victim, this person is the only one that can use that action and the defendant in court is that person, we couldn’t get convictions regularly.”

“In 1992, Dr. Karen Wilson proved that the corona pollentia was the bit of the brain that controlled powers. Despite being thrown in jail for the methods she used to prove it, the information was out there and the government financed a legal study. Until Verechelen came along, no parahuman in a human shape and body hasn’t had one. Some are not in the brain anymore, but everyone we can test has one somewhere.”

He coughed and took a drink of his coffee. “Now, I’m sure some of you remember the Rams hiring that brute to play football. The professional sports leagues quickly got together and decided to ban all parahumans from professional sports, followed quickly by the college leagues.”

“This leads us to David Wayne, a player with the New York Mets. After the rule went into affect, he was let go. Since the contract he had signed was worth almost thirty million dollars, he sued. The league took the position that since there was a league rule against parahumans playing in the league, that they had no choice but to let him go. Mr. Wayne claimed that they couldn’t prove that he was a parahuman.”

“For seven months, the courts bounced the case around, until it ended up in the Supreme Court. They listened to months of testimony by dozens of people and finally ruled five to four, that the legally defining characteristic of a parahuman was the presence of a corona pollentia in the body somewhere. They did make exception for case 53 and other people that are obviously not human anymore, if they could not be checked for the corona.”

He took another drink. “What this means today, is that by Panacea’s report, Miss Hebert is not legally a parahuman. I suspect she’s going to be a new case whatever, as the first human appearance parahuman not to have that growth.”

Battery stared at him. “Are you saying that the girl that turns into a dragon, isn’t a parahuman?”

“Oh, she is, just not legally. Let me give you another example. Let’s say you buy a 1966 Mustang, take the engine out of it and move it by doing the Flintstones thing and pushing it with your feet. Is it still a motor vehicle?” He grinned. “It is still a car, but it’s not a motor vehicle, because part of the legal definition of a motor vehicle is that it moves under it’s own power. At that point, it may be a trailer, in some states, or a bicycle in others, depending on the wording of the laws. Parahumans have a corona, without it, they’re just humans.”

“For us, right now, this is a mess. Legally, we cannot charge her with a parahuman crime, because we can’t prove she’s a parahuman legally. What’s going to happen is that we’d have to take this evidence to the supreme court and get Wayne vs New York Mets overturned, and that’s going to be hard. Two of the judges that ruled against it have died and been replaced by people that are less than friendly towards parahumans at all. Unless we can find another way to positively say X person is a parahuman, they’re going to be very unwilling to change the ruling for one case. It would be like trying to get fingerprints disallowed as identity evidence without supplying another equally good method of identifying someone.”

Piggot was frowning. “So, what would happen if we tried to charge her with murdering the Dragonslayers?”

“If you could find a DA that would prosecute that case, it wouldn’t get to Parahuman status problems. The Dragonslayers attacked first, kidnapped people and killed people. The law is very specific about the measures allowed in that case, Verechelen was within the law on the first two, no question. The woman, that’s a bit more iffy, but all Verechelen would have to do is claim she was aiming a weapon at her. Since we can’t prove she wasn’t, as all of her and her things are gone from the neck to her knees, any decent lawyer would get Verechelen off in a week at best.”

Dauntless looked at him. “What do you mean, if we could find a DA?”

“Politics. No DA is going to want to claim that a teenager brutally murdered an international terrorist who came to this city with the intention of kidnapping said teenager’s parents and threatening to murder them if the teenager didn’t do as she was told. The defense attorney would have a field day with the publicity on that.”

He smiled whimsically. “You’d have a better chance of getting a conviction for littering, as she left a bunch of scrap metal in front of the PRT building.”

Sgt Wayne was thinking. “So what do we do, if we see her breaking the law? I know the PRT can arrest normal and capes, but I was under the impression that the Protectorate could only arrest capes.”

Armsmaster answered him. “That depends. Full arrest powers are reserved for those capes that have passed the police academy courses for the state they are stationed in. Here in Brockton Bay, that is myself, Battery and Miss Militia. Without that certification, a Protectorate hero can only arrest other Parahumans. We can, of course, detain anyone under the relevant citizen’s arrest statutes.”

Sgt Wayne nodded. “So, the PRT actually has to take the lead if we have to arrest her for any reason?”

Director Piggot frowned. “Technically, until the rules change, yes. In this case, if we have to try and arrest her for any reason, I will take the lead, with Armsmaster and Battery as my back up. Battery will lead the rest of the Protectorate after Sgt Wayne deputizes them. Verechelen has shown a remarkable grasp of the lawyer, so we will dot every I and cross every T before we do anything.”

“You, Ma’am?”

Piggot looked at Dauntless. “Yes. Verechelen is has the capability to drag the PRT into a Supreme Court battle, I will not have it said I didn’t do everything in my power to prevent that.”

She looked at her notes. “Ratings aside, Miss Militia, would you report on your meeting earlier with Verechelen?”

Miss Militia stood up. “We arrived at the residence at 1630 and proceeded up the walk to the door.”

After she was done, there was silence for a minute. “She quoted the law?” asked Assault.

“Chapter and paragraph, with exact wording,” Miss Militia confirmed. “I looked it up on the way back.”

“Huh. The question I want to know now, is did she look that up after the incident, or is she actually studying the law?”

“What’s the difference?”

Assault shrugged. “Tactically? None. But if she’s studying the law, she’s going to be much harder to pin anything on. We could get blindsided by some law most people ignore, but that is still on the books. For that matter, she could start using the law against us.” He grinned. “For instance, in this state it is illegal to walk the streets with a mask on except in time of public health emergencies.”

Battery looked at him. “You’re serious.”

“It was passed back in 1854. ‘No person or persons shall in this State, while wearing any mask, hood or device whereby the person, face or voice is disguised so as to conceal the identity of the wearer, enter, or appear upon or within the public property of any municipality or county of the State.’” He grinned again. “She could, technically, use citizen’s arrest to legally stop and detain all of us for the police to arrest. If she’s as smart as Armsmaster thinks she is, there are a dozen laws she could use against us.” He scratched his jaw. “I don’t know about this state, but there are at least two states out west where you can shoot anyone wearing a mask on your property, without finding out what they are there for first.”

He looked puzzled for a minute. “I just don’t understand why her power gave her a law library. Armsmaster’s report of their first meeting had her clearly trying to determine if she had to go with him, legally. She has quoted the law on Parahumans a couple of times, was aware of the recording laws in the Director’s meeting with her and now this. Why would a power give her an in depth knowledge of the law and PRT regulations?”

Battery started looking though the Verechelen file again. “Is there anything in the family background that could explain it.?”

Sgt Wayne snorted. “Sorry,” he said when everyone looked at him. “I just realized, none of you are natives, are you?” He held up a hand as they stared. “Not worried about it, but the people born here know about the Heberts.”

Dauntless looked up. “Wait, she’s one of the Dock Heberts?” At Sgt Wayne’s smirk, he groaned.

“What about them?” Director Piggot made a mental note to get the intel dweebs moving faster about that deep background check on Taylor Hebert.

“Short version, the Heberts have been working the docks for over a hundred years. They aren’t always good people, but they are fiercely loyal and dedicated. Danny Hebert’s grandfather kept the mob out of the docks, and local legend says he did it by giving some of them a burial at sea. If you were asking about the law, I would bet Danny Hebert at least has a very good understanding of labor law, property law and maritime law, at the least. Given some of the things that can’t be proven, him being qualified to practice law would not surprise me.”

Battery looked up from the file she was still reading. “I have a question. According to this transcript, Verechelen claimed to have all the powers in the ratings list. Why haven’t we given her the other ratings?”

Armsmaster looked at her. “The ratings we have given her are based on evidence. If she gives us evidence of any other powers, we will adjust it accordingly.”

“OK,” Battery said, “I just have one more question. When she was threatening legal action, she said ‘You people do a job, I would hate to interfere with it, but if you interfere with my mission, I will.’ What mission did she mean?”

Piggot read the section again and swore to herself. She hadn’t caught the importance of the word because she had a dozen or so missions running everyday, and so did most of the people under her command. She’d heard the term so many times that it barely registered with her.

Assault was looking at the file and frowning. “She said she wants to make life better for people and have some fun, but there is the word mission and you noticed yourself, that she appears to have a schedule in mind.”

“She has an agenda, obviously, but is that all that different than any other cape?” asked Daniel Check. “I mean, every Parahuman I’ve ever met has an agenda, it’s just a matter of making sure their agenda is safe for people.”

Dragon tilted her head slightly. “I’m assuming that she has a plan. When we met, she had plans for a dozen things that will help people, and a dozen more for restriction distribution, to law enforcement and military forces that she approves of only.”

“Weapons?” asked Piggot intently.

“Yes, but only non-lethal ones, stunners and her capture ball, that sort of thing. The capture ball is going to be a boon to medical and police units.”

Piggot rubbed her eyes. “We have a rating for Verechelen now. Everyone is to watch as much of the footage of her as we can find, we’ll meet about her again later. Right now, we have other things going on in this city that we have to discuss. Dauntless?”

“The merchants are leaving. Not all of them, but most of the senior members are moving out. Word on the street is that Stryker is already out of the city at whatever property they were using to grow drugs at. The rest of his team are closing places down, giving stuff away and generally getting ready to leave.”

Piggot frowned. “See if anyone can give us an idea of where they are going, we’ll send an alert. As much as I’d like to track them down, we have bigger problems than people leaving our jurisdiction.”

Piggot stood and used the remote. The wall screen lit up with a map of the city. “Red is the Empire, Green is Lung, blue was the merchants this morning. The gray area is where Coil’s people have been seen and the brown area is what the Dock worker patrol.”

“As you can see, the merchant area is in the worst parts of town, but all of the gangs and the dock worker have an excuse to take it. The only one not in this land grab that is coming is Coil.”

Miss Militia was staring at the Director. Piggot caught her eye. “Now, normally, since we can prove Coil is dead, I wouldn’t worry about him, or his people. However, one of the things we didn’t know is that Coil was financing the Undersiders. They have lawyers now, and are flipping on Coil and his plans. They are going to be re-branding in the next few weeks as a sponsored corporate hero team.”

“What that means for us, is that their thinker, the girl that was known as Tattletale, has sent us Coil’s data, minus only somethings Coil was collecting that I don’t want anyway.” She took a deep breath. “Coil had collected the names of every cape in the city for one purpose or another, ranging from blackmail to plans to out some of them.”

She waited for the murmuring to stop. “That data is gone, according to Tattletale and as far as she knows, no one alive has seen it all. She doesn’t know how many people have seen or collected bits of it, however.”

“I was wondering why they killed him,” Assault said idly. “Generally, lower tier villains like the Undersiders wouldn’t kill another villain. It would cause the rest of them to take a harder line on them. But if they can say he was collecting identities, there’s going to earn them some credit.”

He sat up, looking at the screen. “The area the merchants held is basically abandoned buildings, empty lots and a very few slum lord type houses and apartments. Will the empire even want it?”

“The think tank is divided on that. They’ll keep it for a day or two to check again. I think we’ll see who is going after it by what gang tags start appearing before they get back to us.”

“We should start thinking about removing the Empire.”

Everyone turned to stare at Armsmaster, who had spoken idly while working with his tablet. As the silence continued he looked up. “It is only logical. The merchants are gone, the Undersiders are switching teams, Coil’s dead. That only leaves the ABB and the Empire. Lung is still an issue, but I have a tranquilizer that will work on him, if I catch him before he grows scales. He can be left in place, as he rarely stirs himself for any reason.”

He touched something on his tablet and the map was replaced with a chart. “The Empire has these capes for certain. These four have not been seen with the known empire capes for four months and word is that Purity at least is trying to go straight. Without those four, this is the list of current empire capes.”

“We, on the other hand, can use the Undersiders, New Wave and possibly Verechelen. Combined with the Protectorate and with the Wards running patrols elsewhere, for the first time, we have numerical superiority.”

Assault sat forward. “And, we can pick our battlefield. Hellhound is good at finding Hookwolf’s dog fighting rings, right? So, we get her to take a team with her, and we capture Hookwolf. Stormtiger and Cricket may be there, but Hookwolf is the one we need. We capture him, and they have to break him out, because he’s already Birdcage bound. But, for the first time, they can’t run a distraction somewhere else and take him from a smaller escort.” He sat back, staring at the chart. “They almost have to take him back by force, if we move him quickly, too quickly for them to call for reinforcements.”

The group sat and considered the matter for a few minutes. Piggot nodded slowly. “You’re right. Armsmaster, you and Assault sit down and draw up a plan. Miss Militia, I would like you to quietly talk to Sarah Pelham about this. No hint of this is to leave this room, unless I approve it. I don’t even want the wards knowing yet. Dragon, are you going to meet with Verechelen again?”

“I am. You want me to feel her out about assisting?”

“Maybe. Let me think about it. She has the strength to be useful, but she’s an independent and underage. I do not want to spend a week in front of Congress explaining why I used a minor against villains with kill counts.”

Piggot made some notes. “That said, I’d like some ideas about what gangs may try to move in here, if the old gangs are gone. Think about it, we’ll discuss it at the next meeting.

Dragon held up a hand. They watched her for a minute while she was still. She looked around the table. “I just received word. The Butcher dropped dead about twenty minutes ago during a battle with the Protectorate. Every cape that was there is under observation. There are no signs of the new Butcher at this time.”

Piggot almost smiled. “On that note, we have covered everything and I have an appointment with a set of weights.”

The Heberts,  
Home

Taylor grinned as her parents came out of their room. “How do you feel?”

Annette and Danny were looking at everything. “I never noticed how faded some of this stuff was.” Danny commented. “I don’t think I saw this well ever.”

Annette had cocked her head. “What is that sound?”

“Which one, mom?”

“Kind of a high pitched whine, sounds like it may be coming from the kitchen.” She started in that direction.

“That’s the refrigerator, mom. Your hearing may be a bit better than it was..”

“Just what exactly did you do to us, Taylor?”

“Not that much, really. Think of it as a tune up. You’re not immortal or anything, but all your working systems are running at maximum efficiency. I’ll have to redo it every ten years or so.”

She handed both of them a jacket. “Parian is next on my list to meet, but these will work for now. They have most of the runes mine do for protection. A jacket is terrible for any of the offensive boosts though. You’ll just have to put up with me coming to save you.”

Danny looked at her. “I assume the jacket will warn you if we need help?”

“Other than my equipment, those two jackets are the only things on this planet that use the energy I do. Any excessive drain on them will be noticed and I’ll come see what’s going on. Hopefully, I won’t need to.”

Danny looked at his watch. “I’ve got to get to work. Two of our people were killed yesterday, and I have to make sure the families have what they need and do the paperwork after that.”

“Dad, those people were killed by someone looking for me. Take whatever they need from my accounts.”

Danny started to say something, and then looked at his daughter. She just stared at him. “Fine. I’ve seen that look before. If I don’t you’ll find a way to give them money anyway, won’t you?”

Taylor just smiled at him and turned to her mother. “So, I have to go see Parian in about ninety minutes, would you like to come along?”

I would love to, but I have to ask, who is this Parian? You have mentioned them twice, but I don’t know them.

Danny shrugged into his jacket, noting absently that it fit well and seemed comfortable so far. He see how well it stood up during extended wear. He kissed Annette and hugged Taylor on the way out to his truck.

In the house, Annette was getting a basic run down on the newer capes in the Bay. Taylor looked at her tablet. “We’ll have to be going soon, unless you’d like to fly?”

Annette smiled and then stopped. “Does Parian want the attention?”

Taylor hesitated. “I don’t know. I guess we should be a little discreet this time.” She shifted slightly, looking like a normal person. She concentrated for a second. “We’re meeting her at a tea shop near the college. I have a lock on an alley that will allow us to be discreet.”

One of Taylor’s little drones popped into sight and Annette frowned. “That is not the same as the ones you showed us earlier.”

“This is a different model. It’s called a portal.” She touched it and it changed, becoming a rectangle 4 foot wide and eight foot high. Annette looked into it and saw an alley stretching in front of her. She looked at Taylor who motioned her forward. Annette stepped through as easily as any doorway in her own house.

Taylor was next to her and she looked back but saw no sign of the door from this side.

They walked to the Tea shop and went inside. Taylor went to the person behind the counter. “Is Parian here yet?”

“She’s in room three. Would you like anything to drink?”

Taylor and her mother ordered teas and went to the door with the small brass three on it.

They passed a pleasant hour discussing what Taylor needed for the costumes she wanted to make and how they would be made. After their business was finished, Taylor looked at the woman across from her. “So, I assume, from your website, that you don’t have a shop yet. Do you mind if I ask why not?”

“It is not a secret,” The doll cape said, “the cost of operating a shop as a cape is extreme and I don’t have enough money to afford it yet.”

Taylor had expected something like that. “Here’s my card. In a few weeks, I will have a company that will be able to back you and help you get around all those rules and laws. It would be a straight loan, you would keep control of your shop.”

Parian took the business card. “I will consider it.”

Celia Laborn  
Home

“You can’t do this to me. I’m your mother.”

“I know, Mom. But you are endangering Aisha with those men and ignoring her when she needs discipline and a mother.”

“I refuse.”

“That’s your choice. My choice in that case, is to report the drugs in this house. CPS will come and take Aisha, you’ll go to jail and I will spend the next month getting Aisha back from CPS.”

Brian watched his mother wrestle with her choice. He hated doing this to her, but Lisa said it was the only way to make sure that she would be out of the way long enough for him to prove to CPS that he was a better choice for taking care of Aisha.

Celia looked at her son. “Tell me about this place.”

“It’s a rehab house. You sign in, and after that, there are seven stages you have to pass before you can leave. If you are there three years and haven’t passed all seven, you fail and they release you. If you work at it, and really want to change, they say the stay is about a year.”

Brian doubted his mother would get out that quickly, he wasn’t even certain that she could pass the stages. He didn’t have a choice though. Aisha had shown up at his apartment last night, bruised and carrying a bloody knife. She had used it on her mother’s current boyfriend when he got too grabby with her. He had to get Aisha out of this house today.

“I can stop without all this, baby. Please, just give me another chance.”

Brian nearly snarled. “You’ve said that to me before, mother. Seventeen times before I stopped counting. Your daughter, my sister was nearly raped last night while you were in a drunken high. I won’t take any more chances with her. You have two minutes to sign the papers or I call the police.”

Brian was reaching for his phone before she caved in. Brian called the rehab house and waited until they arrived and took his mother away.

He started bagging the trash. He’d have to separate everything, search it for drugs and alcohol and put it in storage for her.

He was very glad Aisha wasn’t here to see the tears fall.

Verechelen  
The skies 

Taylor came to a stop and pulled her phone out of her pocket. “Hello?”

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Pelham.”

“I can come over anytime, the rest of my day is free.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Goodbye, Mrs. Pelham.”  
Annette  
Home

Annette was on the computer at her home. She was checking the University site. Most of the names were familiar and the President was still the same. She dialed the number.

“Good afternoon. My name is Annette Hebert and I would like to make an appointment to see Mr. Bohr, please.”

“Hello, Jack. It’s been a while.”

“Prove it? I still haven’t told anyone that you hit on me when I was still a graduate student and you were the Head the department.”

“I’m still not going to say anything, I told you that then and nothing has changed. I was wondering if you had a position open.”

“I am aware that tenure ends with death, I wasn’t asking for tenure. I’m actually wanting a part time position at first. I don’t know how my circumstances will change the way people treat me.”

“Thank you, Jack. I’ll see you then.”

Annette hung up and sat in Danny’s chair. She had an appointment to see a therapist Monday. She wasn’t sure how much good it would do, since her situation was unique, to say the least. She had been dead. Not frozen, or in a coma, but actually dead for almost two years. They had already had to take the phone off the hook and she was fairly certain only Taylor’s programs were keeping people from ringing the doorbell twenty four seven.

Taylor was out and Danny was at work for another two hours, so she had time to think about things. Annette had been raised Catholic and this was very disturbing on many levels. Father Madders had died a month before Annette had however, and even the church she had taken confession at was gone, victim of a Lung rampage. She was hesitant to take these issues to a priest she didn’t know.

She remembered something then, another priest she had known well, during her college days. He’d had an open mind, unlike many others during those days. He’d been a bit cantankerous, but he would listen to anyone, even Lustrum.

She went back to the computer to see if she could send Father Greeley an email.

Mannequin  
Detroit

The silent thing examined his surroundings. Five years ago, this had been an electronics warehouse. Then a cape battle came though and a bad interaction between two powers left the building irradiated beyond use. It was scheduled to be torn down and cleared, but the city never seemed to have the money. The radiation didn’t bother him of course and all the parts and tools were still here.

It was going to take something special to kill the girl that called herself Verechelen, but here he had time and space to make that something special.

He began to work.

Danny  
Union Hall

Danny sighed as he finished the paperwork. Two of his people had been killed. One had been a new man, less than a year in the union with a wife and seven month old twins at home. He’d have to make sure to tell Donna in accounting to send a check in the usual union life insurance amount to her. He didn’t actually have enough time in the union to qualify, but since Danny and Taylor were covering it, that didn’t matter. As long as the taxes were paid and the books were straight, no one would care.

Old Jed though, he’d been in the union forty-three years. There was going to be a wake for them both Friday night and Danny made a note to be there. Jed’s family would be OK. His wife had died two years ago and his son was a good man. He was a patrol officer, having used the union to pay for night school. Danny had already spoken to him and he’d be at the wake.

The work done he sat back and thought. Samantha had talked the mercenaries into joining the union and Danny wasn’t sure yet if that was a good idea or not. Trained security was good, sure. But the people he had were loyal to more than a paycheck and that was far more important than skills.

Skills could learned or taught. Loyalty, on the other hand, was harder to find and nurture.

He stood up and grabbed his jacket. He needed to meet these men, see them for himself before making a decision.

He was not going to be the Hebert that destroyed the docks.

Taylor  
BB skies.

Taylor was heading toward the Pelham’s home when a scream below her got her attention. There was a woman, the source of the scream. She was pointing her finger at a man running away from her.

Taylor made a metal bet and then focused on the man. Yep. He was a cutter, a purse snatcher that carried a razor to cut purse straps or woman if they fought too hard. She grinned. This was going to be fun.

Taylor went invisible as she dove, catching up to the man quickly. She passed him and dropped to the road in front of him. She took the huge werewolf form she’d used in the bank.

It had been effective.

She watched the man and when he was just five feet away she dropped the invisibility affect. His eyes opened but he was moving too fast to stop and plowed right in to her. Taylor grabbed him in one hand and picked him up to examine him. She sniffed him a couple of times.

“You’re a drug user and a thief. You have ten seconds to tell me why I shouldn’t just end you now.”

The man stared at her for a second. “I would get blood all over your fur?”

Taylor pretended to think about it. She took another deep sniff of the man. “I have your scent now. I never forget a scent. If I ever catch you committing a crime again, no one else ever will, understand?”

“Yup. Yes, fully.”

“Good. By the way, while you’re in jail, you might want to tell the other criminals that drugs have a very acrid scent, that they make it much easier to track you guys down. It also makes the hunt too easy.”

Taylor set him down as a police car pulled up and changed shape. “Officers, I think this gentleman has something to tell you.”

The criminal handed the purse to the first officer. “I have decided to change my ways. Would you take me away?”

The younger officer cuffed him and took him to the car. The older officer looked at Taylor with a smile. “You do know the police have a union, right? You’d be welcome in local 187.”

Taylor smiled. “Sorry, but the local 240 has first call on my services.” She handed him a business card. “However, if you need a quick hand, I can be reached at that number.”

The cop nodded his thanks and then stopped, looking at her again. “How good is your nose in that other form?”

Taylor sniffed. “You had a burger and onion rings at Jerry’s grill about an hour ago and Wheaties for breakfast. You use Irish Spring soap and Winchester cologne.”

The officer blinked and grinned. “Expect a call from Detective Sanchez around the fifteenth. There’s a trucker that we know is running drugs into the Bay but we can’t find them.”

Taylor smiled as she started to lift off. “Give me a call, I’ll be happy to help out.” 

New Wave  
The Pelham House

Taylor sat patiently as she waited for the next question. She’d been here for an hour so far and if it hadn’t been for the fact that she wanted Panacea’s testimony about the process she used, she’d have already pushed them to hurry up. It was a family member, what could possibly be the hold up?

As far as she could tell, most of them were all for it, but Carol Dallon was trying to find the catch. She seemed incapable of believing that all she wanted was Panacea to be willing to say she’d examined the whole process.

“Honey, you’re being a little unreasonable here. She admitted right up front that she did this with her own mother and that she offered it to us specifically because she wants Amy to testify as to what she saw during the process. Why do you think there’s anything more than that to it?”

Carol looked at her husband. “Mark, how much would people pay for this, if it works?”

Taylor coughed, drawing the group’s attention. “I made eighteen million yesterday. I’m in negotiations with Dragon to make a dozen things that will bring in millions for the next twenty years, and there are still S class threats out there that I can capture at any time. Money is not an issue for me.”

She held out her hand. A block of gold a foot square appeared in her hand. “I can make anything I understand out of nothing. Gold, diamonds, rubies, whatever.” She made the gold disappear. “But what I can’t do, is give a detailed biological report on what I do that will be accepted. As far as I know, only Panacea can do that, which makes her time far more valuable than gold to me.”

An hour later, Taylor let herself out. Fleur had been gone longer than Annette and it had been harder to pull enough memories from the group. She might have even failed, if there had been fewer people.

She smiled as she flew home. Amy had been fascinated with the process of making the body, keeping one hand on Taylor and one on the forming body, muttering under her breath the entire time. Taylor was willing to bet she’d be hearing from Amy again. Soon.


End file.
